Mining for Gravel

Anna and I have been visiting a church in Portland the last couple of weeks called Evergreen. You won't often hear me say this about a church, but I'm pretty damn impressed.

A few months ago, when I was considering a pastoral position at another local church, I was surveying church websites for ideas and stumbled across theirs. While most churches had a large and highly specific "What We Believe" section, Evergreen instead had a huge "What We Value" section, and summed up their beliefs with the time-tested Apostle's Creed.

This morning we picked up a leaflet stating these values. Honestly, the whole statement was refreshingly honest and humble, but I was particularly struck by the section valuing History. In part: "

We see ourselves not as a disconnected community, but as a group of people who stand in the stream of something much larger than ourselves: the church down through history. as a result, we want to look back to that history and draw inspiration, resources and role models from it, while recognizing that we aren't necessarily bound by it.

As the (post?)modern church seeks to pursue Christ in community and finds itself in stark contrast with many churches and leaders of the twentieth century church, we need to define the role of tradition.

Perhaps the most costly and valuable form of art in the Western world today is jewelry. Before your wedding ring arrived at the Shane Company, someone shelled out copious amounts of cash to mine for small reserves of gold hidden in tons of rock and gravel, hundreds of meters deep in a mountainside. After this, someone else heated these reserves in a purifying process, discarding worthless metal and preserving the valuable gold. This can be a metaphor for the work of pastors and missionaries today, who in their creative process get to mine our rich Christian heritage for valuable ideas, practices, and expressions, without drawing up the gravel, landfill waste, and fossilized cow droppings (AKA codified bullshit, if you will) that are also found in the earth. In humility, the leaders of the twentieth century church have to recognize that not all of their metal is gold, while the twenty-first century leaders need to be gracious enough to admit that not all stones are gravel.

My Video Project

For any of you whose ears I have talked off about the video project I've been working on for my music class, here's the final product. It's no Scorsese, but I enjoyed making it!


Online Videos by Veoh.com

A Christian Defense of Marilyn Manson (Part 2)

I was reading back through some past posts, and realized that I never produced the sequel to my article, "A Christian Defense of Mariliyn Manson (Part 1)." I hope I'm not kicking a dead horse, but here is the second half to my thoughts on the subject.

Marilyn Manson's music is a lot like terrorism, punk, homelessness, and abortion. If you know me, you might be surprised to hear me say that, so let me explain. By saying this, I mean that Marilyn Manson's music is a symptom of deeper problems. Just like terrorists, punks, homeless people, and abortion doctors, Marilyn Manson is rejected and hated by the church and the larger culture. These people make us aware of the deeper problems of our cultures, our morals, our economics, our churches, and our politics, so we call them our "enemies." This frees us to ignore them, hate them, blame them, and judge them.

I just watched a film called, "The Filth and the Fury" about the British rock band that kicked off the rise of punk in the late 70's. The film did a great job of showing the Sex Pistol's social context of unemployment, a long-running garbage strike, the collapse of the unions, rolling blackouts, etc. Out of this context, the film showed two significant events: (1) The Queen's Silver Jubilee, which was a massive celebration of England and all that is great about it, and (2) the rise of punk, a noisy, undisciplined, violent, music of the unprivileged youth. As I watched the video, I thought "Which of these two events responded insanely to the world, those who exposed it and said it was screwed up, or those who ignored it by throwing a big party?"

As the people of England (and especially the Christian community) positioned themselves in opposition to punk, they lost the opportunity to ask what truths punk was drawing attention to. They hated the symptom, and ignored the disease. They hated the cancer, and lost the opportunity to find out what caused it. How insane would it be to demonize people with cancer and ignore the causes of those cancers?

As Christians, we don't have the privilege of responding to our enemies in this way. If we choose to call terrorists, musicians, other countries, the homeless, the democrats, the republicans, or abortion doctors our "enemies," we have just increased our responsibility to them. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, feed our enemies, seek peace with our enemies, to engage in conversation with our enemies, and to pull the log out of our own eyes before addressing the slivers in the eyes of our enemies.

When Christians encounter those whom we would consider as enemies to our beliefs, values, or way of life, it becomes imperative that we pursue peace with that person, group, or country, and peace means first seeking understanding. Perhaps it's just me, but publicly decrying someone is a terrible way to begin understanding them. As I've entered into rock music and Marilyn Manson within that genre, I've found a cancer that is willing to tell me what caused it. In the same way that Jesus' healings and miracles were "signs" pointing to the inbreaking of the kingdom of God, Marilyn Manson's music is a sign, pointing to the hypocritical, violent, obscene, self-justifying, self-glorifying nature of the church, the world, and human nature.

Where do we find that Jesus teaches us to silence our enemies? Where does Jesus teach that those who employ obscene means for communication are our enemies? Where do we learn that we are to be the moral judges of the world? Where in the Bible do we learn that those who make us aware of evil are evil?

I imagine that I might receive a response to this post, saying, "Sure, we should engage Marilyn Manson. If I meet him, we'll talk, but buying his music doesn't allow me to engage him." My response is two-fold. First, I do get to engage with Manson through his music, because I assume that his music is a sign that points to the cause of disease. Through Manson, I get to gain a perspective about the things and people that have made his world (and many others like him) an evil place, and that is of concern to me as a Christian. Secondly, I will not likely ever meet Marilyn Manson, but I have met and will continue to meet those who share his world view and who are inspired by it. I wonder how equipped I would be to connect with these people if I ignore the words of their prophets? If I hate their forms of expression, and fear exposing myself to it, how fruitful are the conversations I have with them likely to be?

Inversely, if I take seriously the Christian call to purity without taking seriously the Christian call to love and engage in conversation with my enemies, what will be my response to those who look, think, and sound much like Marilyn Manson? Our ethics make us into certain kinds of people. When I fear and avoid Manson, what kind of person will I become in relation to his followers?

As a caveat, I'm not necessarily arguing that every Christian must be well-versed in Manson's music. There are too many musicians in the world, and we can't keep up with all of them. Besides, you may not enjoy hard rock, but, there are artists in whatever art forms you do enjoy with whom you should be engaging. The gospel, if anything, would command that we do engage with the creative works of those whom we might consider to be "enemies." Christians should be the most capable of loving and truly understanding the people who produce these works. If there is blame to be had in regards to Christians and the creative works of the church's "enemies", I believe it falls on those who refuse to engage with these creations rather than those who do.

Quote du Jour

"Let it be said clearly, however, that the reasons for choosing Jesus' way of peacemaking are not prudential. In calculable terms, this way is sheer folly. Why do we choose the way of nonviolent love of enemies? If our reasons for that choice are shaped by the New Testament, we are motivated not by the sheer horror of war, not by the desire for saving our own skins and the skins of our children (if we are trying to save our skins, pacifism is a very poor strategy), not by some general feeling of reverence for human life, not by the naive hope that all people are really nice and will be friendly if we are friendly first. No, if our reasons for choosing nonviolence are shaped by the New Testament witness, we act in simple obedience to the God who willed that his own Son should give himself up to death on a cross. We make this choice in the hope and anticipation that God's love will finally prevail through the way of the cross, despite our inability to see how this is possible. That is the life of discipleship to which the New Testament repeatedly calls us. When the church as a community is faithful to that calling, it prefigures the peaceable kingdom of God in a world wracked by violence.

... One reason that the world finds the New Testament's message of peacemaking and love of enemies incredible is that the church is so massively faithless. On the question of violence, the church is deeply compromised and committed to nationalism, violence, and idolatry."

- Richard Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament, p. 343.

Patriotism and the Kingdom of God

Years ago I read a book called "Johnny Got His Gun," by Dalton Trumbo. It's about a soldier who goes to war, not truly understanding what he's fighting for, who winds up losing his limbs, vision, hearing and lower jaw. The book consists of the thoughts and memories of a suffering soldier who is incapable of communicating with anybody in the world outside his mind, wrestling with the nature of war, violence, and patriotism.

I wish I could say that Jesus' teachings had made me into a pacifist, but truly it was Dalton Trumbo.

Regardless, after I underwent that Gestalt switch, the text of the Bible began to come to life in a new way, and since then I've come to take seriously Jesus' teachings regarding non-violence on a national scale.

The convictions I've come to hold are usually revealed in political discussions, when I become critical of American militarism as a means for "fighting evil". Inevitably, such conversations usually earns me the title unpatriotic, and I respond to this title by saying that I believe it's more patriotic to support the ideals of freedom and the right to free speech than to stand behind the nation's current leader or current military actions. I think it is a better reflection of our founders' democratic ideals that my voice be heard in its critique of the nation's leadership, than having my concerns reflect the values American nationalists.

Lately, however, I've been wondering whether my response is a sufficient reflection of my most deeply held values. If the true source of my rejection of violence is Jesus' teachings, why do I feel the need to appeal to nationalism when I defend that? Why is "patriotism" a virtue? Why is "unpatriotic" an insult? If "there is no longer Jew or Greek," (Gal 3:28) in the Christian community, do I not have some precedence for rejecting values that seek to preserve such (now meaningless) distinctions?

Here is my new answer, for the moment, and I welcome criticism:

I do not think it is any coincidence that when Jesus named his gospel, he called it a "kingdom"; that is, a certain kind of nation. Jesus often used the language of Rome's leadership and twisted it for his own uses. For example, he hijacked the term "gospel" from the Caesar, who was using it to announce Pax Romana (Peace brought by the power and military of Rome). So, when Caesar said "I come to bring the good news (gospel) of peace through Roman military might," Jesus responded, saying "I come to bring the good news of peace through the kingdom of God." Caesar claimed to be the Son of God, and Jesus said, "No you're not, I am." Jesus was criticizing the claims of the political powers, claiming that they were only distorted parodies of the real kingdom. Today, as we hear our president say that we are "fighting evil" and that we are spreading peace through military action, are we not founded in saying, "There is another kingdom to which I will give my loyalty, and another King. You are claiming that you and your military can do what God alone can do, and I won't support your deceit. Instead, I'm going to live as a witness to another kingdom."

If we have a loyalty to God and a loyalty to our nation, what happens when the two demand different action on our part? When the nation says, "Support us, and support the people who are killing our nations enemies for your protection," and Jesus says, "Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt 5:44) to whom should I pledge my allegiance?

The most common argument against pacifism or non-violent resistance is that the failure to adopt military action in the event of an attack would wreak havoc on our nation, cause a loss of our position in the world, make us look weak, and strip us of our power. I say in response that the kingdom of God is destroyed when we enter into the cycles of violence, fear, and hatred that Jesus freed us from, and that the "greatest" is not the wealthiest or most powerful, but is instead a servant of all.

If someone had said to Jesus, "Rome must rule by the sword to bring about peace, defeat evil, and to protect its powerful position in the world, don't you support that?" how do you think he would have responded?

I imagine he would have pointed to the irony of bringing peace through violence, called his disciples to seek peace more actively than Rome, reminded them that the kingdom of God is to be the source of peace, and decried the folly of those who seek power for themselves.

I'm not unpatriotic. I'm just patriotic to a different kingdom.

Wisdom of the Rockers: Flobots

I stumbled across some lyrics today that I was really impressed with, so I thought I'd share. They are from the group "Flobots," a rock-hip hop outfit that has found quite a bit of popularity lately with their song "Handlebars" (song here; music video here). Keep in mind this isn't a Christian band, so if your ears are sensitive, you might have to put on earmuffs for the occasional "F" bomb. To give a little background, here's a little snippet from their PureVolume page where they talk about their newly found fame. You tell me if this doesn't sound like a group who has grasped the concept of the kingdom of God, and wants to see it grow in popular music?

To fully comprehend the opportunity, we had to imagine the possibilities. We imagined a world where the message of Fight With Tools is the mainstream, with the airwaves broadcasting honest statements about our nation's past violence and calling for a new vision of a fully engaged, non-violent society. We imagined a network of music fans in cities around the globe organizing to implement this vision. We imagined major recording artists rallying people to become involved in a grassroots peace movement.

Those who write the words for the Flobots aren't always explicit about the motivation for their beliefs, but as you'll see below, they find them in the teachings of Christ. With their lyrics, which are now becoming widely heard, they speak to a hip hop crowd and use the microphone to call for non-violence, encouraging their listeners to take a prophetic voice against the powers that be when the value of life is not preserved. They are as critical about America's response to Hurricane Katrina as they are the country's activities in the Middle East. In multiple tracks they call out to the "least of these," the women, children, and infirm, and they lift them up as the hope for the future. They ask us to take a "leap of faith," and try non-violence in order that peace may spread.

As a person who has to fight the urge to stand up in church each week and say with Amos, "Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream," I hear worship in the songs of the Flobots. I hear them spreading the kingdom of God into music and through music into the hearts of their listeners.

Now, while I fear the unintended effects of detaching the lyrics from their musical context, I more greatly fear having my ass sued for copyright infringement. So, here are the lyrics, but know that you can go to PureVolume and hear the entire album legally for free.

From the latest album's title track, "Fight with Tools." I hear echoes of the Beatitudes...

All free minds to the front
We call upon women
We call upon children
We call upon the handicapped
The infirmed
The week of heart
We need your courage
Your dedication
Your passion
Your commitment
Gather up your platinum
Melt it down

This next set of lyrics is from the track, "We are Winning." I feel like it wouldn't be inappropriate to start this with, "The kingdom of God is like...

Rival gangsters sit down to plan an after-school program
A religious fanatic posts footage of an interfaith service project
A group of teenage boys watches a video of a father playing catch with his son
An adult film star paints thumbnail portraits of elderly couples, fully clothed and smiling
A record executive records a demo of his apology
A policeman makes reverse 911 calls instructing residents to take to the streets
A patriot reports for duty
She's wearing an orange jumpsuit and holding a picket sign
She's ashamed of her birthplace
But retreat is not an option...
Butterfly wing crosswinds send black hawks toward hurricane survivors
Roses sprout from empty lots and sidewalk cracks
Pacifist guerrillas move undetected through concrete jungles
New forms are beginning to take shape
Once-occupied minds are activating
People are waking up
The insurgency is alive and well

In "Stand Up," the Flobots tell us that Jesus and those for whom his heart was moved are to be the basis of our passions, defining that for which we stand and that against which we stand.

We've seen flames send the chills through London
And we've sent planes to kill them and some of them were children
But still we crumbling the building
Underfunded but we still don't understand
Under god but we kill like the son of Sam
But if you feel like I feel like about the son of man
We will overcome...

Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except By a child with no socks and shoes
Except by a woman dying from the loss of food
Except by a freedom fighter bleeding on a cross for you...

Mighty warlord wanna-be street thug
a threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified
blow for blow never settles the score
word for word is time need clarify
We the people did not want war

And just to be clear about the source of the Flobots vision, this is from "One Love,"

My role model will not only brush ya shoulders off
But wash your feet, give his life as the soldiers watch
And forgive his torturers below the cross
So when youre slapped and youre told to fight back
And they taunt you over the phone to incite smack
Get back! Get back in the zone despite that
And rely on the strength that the bonified have

"What is Theology" -- A Parable

Jesus often found it more helpful to explain something difficult by telling a story of what it's like to experience that thing... so I'm going to try and do the same. I'm spurred to this by conversation in one of my classes, in which 60 of us were talking about the meaning of theology. The basic answer is that it's "the study of God"... but the literal definition leaves much to be spoken. This parable finds its seed also in a quote from songwriter Nick Cave, who, when describing his motivation for song writing once said, "To write allowed me direct access to my imagination, to inspiration and ultimately to God. I found through the use of language, that I wrote god into existence. Language became the blanket that I threw over the invisible man, that gave him shape and form." So here we go.

Theology is Like a Blanket

There once was a young boy who had an invisible Friend. Every day he would talk with his Friend despite the chiding of his other friends and the concern of his parents. One day, while walking through a park, the boy asked his friend, "What is your name?" But as usual, his Friend said nothing. "You know everything about me, I've told you all my secrets and I spend all my time with you, but I know nothing about you! I'm not even sure any more that you're still here!" Then the boy spotted a blanket lying on the ground nearby and, thinking quickly, he cast the blanket upon his Friend. Sure enough, a shape was revealed. The boy was assured that his Friend was real, and for a short time, he was satisfied.

Some time later, the boy caught the flu and spent a few days home from school. The boy was lonely even as he sat with the blanket cast over his Friend, so he asked again, "Please! Tell me your name! I would not be so lonely if I could just talk with you." The blanket rose a bit, and shimmied out of the room. The form returned a few minutes later with a bowl of soup, and as he held the bowl and spoon, the boy realized for the first time that his Friend must have hands. Extending a spoonful of soup, the blanketed form began to feed the boy. Knowing that his Friend cared for him, the boy was satisfied once again.

When the boy recovered, he went outside to play. He knew his Friend was with him even though his Friend would not wear the blanket outside, and again the boy demanded, "I know that you are real, and that you care for me, but I need to know your name. Talk to me, tell me something about yourself, tell me your name!" At that point, a young girl came over and asked the boy if he wanted to play soccer. While hesitant to drop the argument, but also not wanting to reveal to the girl that he had been talking with an invisible person, the boy agreed. All afternoon he and the girl played, and when the streetlights came on, the girl picked up the ball and began to run home.

"Before you go," the boy called after her, "I haven't even asked you your name!"

"Why do you always ask me that?" she said with a wink and ran off.

The boy ran inside, looking for his blanket. He found it under his bed, and he began casting it around in his room, hoping that it would land on his Friend. Finally the blanket fell and revealed a form. "All day you played with me, and still you told me nothing about you! I don't know if you can talk, but I know you have hands," He held out a pen and a notepad to his Friend, and demanded "Write down your name!"

The draped form reached out and grabbed the writing tools, and began to write.

"I am who I am," the tablet said

"What is that supposed to mean? That means nothing at all!" The boy shouted. Then he pulled the blanket off his Friend, wrapped it around himself and fell asleep.

Year after year, the boy slept with the warmth of that blanket. Occasionally he would talk to his Friend, but he never heard a response and he never used the blanket as he once had.

Years passed until one dark night, shortly after the young man had moved away for college, and he found himself in his dorm room feeling very lonely, drinking cheap vodka by candlelight. On in an impulse, he pulled the blanket off his bed. Laughing at himself for his foolishness, the boy cast the blanket lazily in front of him. As it had so many years before, the blanket revealed a form: a person with arms wide. The young man embraced the form unhesitatingly, "You're still here! You've been here all along haven't you?" he cried. The form nodded, and the young man believed he saw a smile revealed in the draping of the cloth. That night, he did not use the blanket for warmth, but instead left it on his Friend, telling him about college and the difficult time he was having making friends, until he fell asleep.

At three in the morning, the young man woke up with smoke in his lungs and the noise of a fire alarm piercing his ears. He crawled to the door, but passed out in the thick cloud. As he slipped in and out of consciousness, he saw glimpses of a firefighter kicking down the door and carrying him to safety. Finally he awoke in the yard of his college, lying on his back, as the firefighter called to him, "Can you hear me? Wake up!"

"Yes," the young man coughed, "What happened?"

"It seems that a blanket in your room caught fire. You shouldn't sleep with candles burning; you're lucky to be alive."

"I know." The young man replied, feeling quite dumb, "Thank you for coming after me. What is your name?"

"Why do you always ask me that?" The masked figure answered, then he backed away as the crowd forced in. The young man smiled.

Without the blanket, the young man always had to wonder whether the people whom he loved and who cared for him were really his Friend in a different disguise. When he sensed that his Friend was near, or that somebody's words were really the words of his Friend, he learned from them. He could never assure himself of his Friend's presence, but he talked as if he were never alone. And when he came across those in need, he cared for them as his Friend had cared for him.

The Loss of Innocents (sic)

There's a pretty well-known story in the Bible where some religious leaders bring a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery before Jesus, saying, "The law tells us that this woman should be stoned to death, what do you say?" He responds "Let the one without sin cast the first stone." Slowly, each of the accusers leave their stones on the ground and walk away. (Read the story in John 8)

The story is significant for those of us who see in Christ's teachings a consistent demand for the preservation of life and a staunch opposition to violence. Jesus intervenes on a violent act that was not only allowed, but prescribed by the Jewish Law, and successfully prevents it from happening. Jesus' ethic, which is revealed in this story and in others, created the foundation for Gandhi's non-violent revolution in India and Martin Luther King's non-violent resistance against racist law and practices in America. It has inspired Christians and non-Christians alike to avoid violence as a means to preventing further violence.

Recently, stories like this have been used to form the foundation of a growing number of American pacifistic Christians who are looking to Jesus' life and teachings for answers to questions like, "What does it mean to be a Christian in an evermore militaristic country?" "What does it mean in this context to love our enemies?" "What does it mean to turn the other cheek when we are struck as a nation?" "What did Jesus mean when he said 'Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.'?" "Can Christians fight in the military?" "Do Jesus' life and teachings forbid violence and killing in all forms?"

In a conversation regarding the role of war in international politics, a student in one of my classes recently asked, "What do we do if all of our peacemaking strategies have failed and war is the only option to prevent someone from killing innocent people?" At first I thought, 'Good question! Jesus teaches us not to protect our own well-being ("Turn the other cheek," etc.), but what to do when another person's life is at risk?' That's when the story of the adulteress came to mind. Here Jesus takes non-violent action to prevent the death of another person whose life is threatened, and through this, we can find the imperative to do likewise.

But what if the accusers hadn't dropped the stones?

What if they had said, "The law prescribes it, it's what God commands!" and began throwing the stones? What would Jesus have done then?

At this point, I'm stepping out into speculation. Forgive me! This blog, you may be surprised to hear, is non-canonical. But I'd like to think it's inspired.

The first answer that comes to mind is that Jesus would have stepped in front of the stones, and his own execution would have happened much earlier. Today, we'd be wearing stones around our necks instead of crosses. Now I'm walking on really thin ice because I'm going to draw moral implications from something that never happened, but I think it's fair to pursue this line of thought. Even though Jesus did not have the opportunity to respond to this situation, our knowledge of Jesus' actions elsewhere inform our imagination and nearly all of us will imagine Jesus responding in a non-violent way. So, let me ask, if you imagine that Jesus would continue to act non-violently, which says something about your understanding of Jesus, what is the implication for us as individuals and as a nation? To put it more pointedly, if you're a Christian and you see non-violence as a characteristic of the man you worship and imitate, how should you encourage your nation to respond when we see other people in the world being threatened?

What would a pacifistic response look like? Just imagine a non-violent military, sending 'troops' out to die with innocent people who are being threatened, and making a statement on the world stage in so doing. How much more empowering to the oppressed in those places would it be if they had tens of thousands of 'soldiers' sent there to be with them, ready to work towards peace, refusing to abide by unfair laws, and even willing to die at their side? Isn't it at least possible that a dictator could fall from power simply because he could not control his people anymore when they are joined by non-violent, civil disobeyers?

Let's return to my initial question, 'How would Jesus have responded if the adulteress' accusers proceeded with her execution?' In addition to the part of me that says Jesus would step in the way of the stones, another part says that this could never have happened, because Jesus had pegged the true source of the accusers' motivation and questioned its grounding. In other words, Jesus didn't just have a really handy and disarming one-liner; he knew his crowd. His response was pointed and intentional. Because Jesus knew the people to whom he was responding, because he knew their motivation and the way in which their religion had permitted the violence, he was able to respond.

He didn't say, "Your religion is archaic, outdated, and violent!" and throw stones at the accusers before they could attack the woman. He didn't build up support by turning to the crowd and saying, "Look at what these judgmental, legalistic, and violent people are doing! Pick up your own stones and defend this woman!" This is what the heroes in our American movies would do, and it's how our nation has responded to attacks. Because we do not sufficiently understand the motivation behind terrorist attacks, we can not begin to question their motivation much less teach a higher ethic. And because we ourselves resort so often to violence, we cannot be that moral guide and say with any sincerity, "Violence is not the answer!"

As usual, I welcome your disagreement and thoughts! Any other theories as to how Jesus would have responded?

Postmodern Spiritual Practice #2: Prayerful Life-Framing

This entry is the second installment of a series in which we will be looking at ways that Christians can integrate their everyday experiences into their spiritual lives and vice versa.

Life gets busy, the urgent overtakes the important, the "now" oppresses the future. We find ourselves living paycheck to paycheck and weekend to weekend. When somebody asks how we're doing, we give answers like "Same shit, different day," or sarcastically claim to be "Living the dream." In our marriages, we find that we have different expectations about the future than our spouses, or that we have different values on which decisions are based. We get stuck in these cycles in which our circumstances govern the ways in which we spend our time, and this can lead to all sorts of ills: depression, a lack of hope, marital problems, addictions, etc.

Don't worry, you're not about to get a shameless plug for a self-help book, a timeshare in Cabo, a new miracle cure drug, a ten step solution to all of life's problems, or the next "Secret". Instead, I'm going to share this week's Postmodern Spiritual Practice, which I call "Prayerful Life-Framing", but you feel free to call it whatever you want. There's enough stress in your life without having to put up with the names of things that you don't like.

The basic idea behind this practice is that once a year (or more) you take the time to get away and assess your life situation, give thanks for the blessings you've received in the last year, pray about unresolved issues, ask God for wisdom for the future, and, if you're sharing your life with a special someone, seek to align your hopes, plans, and expectations for the next year. If you've read my post, entitled "Teach Me Something...", you might also apply the same principle described there, and ask God what he was working to teach you over the last year. If you keep a journal or a blog, I recommend bringing it along and reviewing your writings to refresh your memory of major events, developments, realizations, etc.

The suggestion for this practice came by the advice of my uncle when Anna and I were in premarital counseling. We exercise this practice annually, usually during the month of January, as a way of kicking off our new year. For the last two years we've spent our Christmas money on a weekend at a nice hotel in Long Beach. We like heading somewhere that we can walk around and enjoy the sites, go shopping, enjoy some new restaurants, hit a bookstore, etc. We usually spend a good amount of time in the hotel room, so we can work through any complicated issues, and so that we can just enjoy being together. It's rare that we spend time with just the two of us without the ubiquitous presence of computers, TV, textbooks, or homework.

Last year, on our trip, we dealt frankly with the issue of having kids soon (which had been for us a huge source of tension), and this year we ended up spending a good amount of time at Barnes and Noble reading about the house-buying process, and made the decision to make our first purchase when we return to Portland later this year. It is common in most marriages (or at least it is in ours!) that big issues get pushed under the rug because there just isn't the time to deal with them directly when the topics arise. Passive aggressive jabs and sarcastic remarks pass for true communication and tensions build. With this practice, we've been able to nip many of those problems in the bud and bring our two very different lives and personalities into closer harmony.

I don't want to give the impression, however, that this practice is only for married people. I wish someone had given me the advice to do this when I was a young single man. The practice will look different for single people, so let me paint a picture of what it might look like in that case. If I were in that boat, I would plan this trip a few weeks in advance. I would ask my parents, my mentors, and a couple of close friends to write me letters (or make videos or CDs), and prod them to tell me where they see me headed, what concerns they have about me or my future, what their prayers are for me, etc. Then I'd ask them to pray for me during the time that I'm gone that God would open my eyes to the paths on which he's leading me, and that I would receive encouragement, guidance, wisdom, and energy. I'd bring along a journal and plenty of ink and the letters these people wrote, and I'd probably go backpacking or to stay at the cabin of my friend, Orlie. I'd spend a good amount of time in prayer, I'd probably bring a book or two that I'd been meaning to read, but more than anything, I would give the time to these thoughts that they deserve.

I'm sure this suggestion will not be groundbreaking for many, but for Anna and I, it was! We've depended on it every year, and will continue to do so. For those who are able to break way more often, I'm sure it would be helpful as frequently as time allows. The point of the practice is to bring harmony, hope, vision, and unity to our marital and spiritual lives. Prayerful Life-Framing helps lead me towards that goal by giving me the time to take stock of my life, listen to God's heart on the issue, and ultimately choose new paths.

Recent films and music that can facilitate this practice:

Movies:
About Schmidt
Gardenstate
The Bucketlist
I (Heart) Huckabees

Songs
Switchfoot- This is Your Life
Iron and Wine- Naked as we Came
Incubus- Drive
Further Seems Forever- Lead the Way

Postmodern Spiritual Practice #1: "Secular Prayers"

This entry is the first installment of a series in which we will be looking at ways that Christians can integrate their everyday experiences into their spiritual lives and vice versa.

I posted an entry a while ago entitled, "A Christian Defense of Marilyn Manson," in which I talked, about lessons we can learn from those outside of the Christian fold, even when the person stands vocally against our tradition. The following spiritual practice is an extension of such thinking.

No religion has the monopoly on Truth, nor, especially, does any single person or group. This is not to say that God himself is ignorant, but rather that we, despite revelation, most certainly are! Just as Martin Luther King Jr. (a Christian), was able to use the non-violent practices and teachings of Mahatma Ghandi (a Hindu), there is a richness of truth to be found not only in other religions, but in non-religious
(or secular) people. Hopefully this statement alone is not too controversial... if anybody has any questions about the premise, I'd be more than glad to discuss it further.

The spiritual practice of "Secular Prayers" takes the poetry, music, writings, films, speeches, and art of secular voices, and allows their creations, when they ring of truth, to become our own prayers. In other words, to employ this spiritual practice, you expose yourself to the creations of people who don't claim your religious faith, and you allow their art to become the basis for worship. That's abstract, I know, so let me bring this into context. My two biggest interests are music and film, so I'll focus on these. Here are a few ways I've allowed secular creations to become my own prayers and devotions:

Here's a few examples:Music Lyrics
I can only speak to the music genre I'm most familiar with, but in rock music, it is not rare at all to hear lyrics that seem like they fell out of a worship song and into the mouths of the most secular of musicians. When this happens, I allow the song to become a worship song for me. In other cases, the lyricist might put to words a particular pain or yearning in my life, and again, I allow it to become worship. At other times, he/she might express adoration for a person, using words that I might also use towards God. So, I worship. At other times, I hear blatant honesty about the person's life or about the human situation, and I'm brought to prayer on behalf of the person or for our collective situation.













"If I traded it all; If I gave it all away for one thing, just for one thing. If I sorted it out; If I knew all about this one thing, wouldn’t that be something?"
-- Finger Eleven: "One Thing"

"I wanna thank you mom, I wanna thank you dad, for bringing this (bleeping) world
to a bitter end. I never really hated the one true God, but the god of the people I hated."
-- Marilyn Manson: "Disposable Teens"

"I believe in a world that can take you high, in a place where patience can prevail,
in a sky where sunshine breaks the clouds. I believe in a thought that can set you free and the seeds of hatred always fail, in a mind that hears its heartbeat loud."
-- Ra: "I believe"

"This is my life inside your heart. Take my hand and I'll promise not to ever let it go. Take my hand 'cause this hope is greater than you'll ever know. Take my hand and this is all I'll ever ask of you to show."
-- Rise Against: "My Life Inside Your Heart"

Movies
For me, the kinds of movies that lend themselves well to worship are those that draw attention to life's painful realities, and stick with you long after the movie ends. These movies are helpful because they open my eyes to the pain in which many lives are lived. In so doing, they can move me to action, or at the very least expand my horizons so that I can enter into the pain of those I might otherwise judge or ignore. Here's a few such movies that come to mind at the moment.

Human Atrocities and Prejudices
Schindler's List
Hotel Rwanda
Rendition
Crash
No Country For Old Men
Life is Beautiful
Lord of War
Amistad
Syriana

Drugs
Requiem for a Dream
Blow
Traffic
Trainspotting
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Heartbreak
The Story of Us
The Notebook

Death and Aging
About Schmidt
Rent
Philadelphia
The Bucket List

Social Estrangement
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Edward Scissorhands
Brokeback Mountain
As Good as it Gets

Hope
Shawshank Redemption
Garden State
Stranger than fiction
I Heart Huckabees

Now, again, why do this? Because movies, film, art, political speeches, newspaper and magazine articles, books, and plays are not just modes of entertainment, they form part of the fabric of our postmodern existence. To "worship" is to bring before God that which he has given us, and to return it back to him in praise. So, in this spiritual practice, we are taking our entertainment and we're turning it into worship. Just as people of old would take the rocks around them to form an altar before God, I'm suggesting that we take the scripts and lyrics that form our context, and that we too build an altar.

Nota Bene: If any of you has any other songs or movies (I'm sure there are hundreds) that you would include if you were making a list, leave a comment. If this is helpful, or you think it's heretical and syncretistic, let me know!