My Monday is your Tuesday
11/05/12 06:30
Nothing complicated here! Simply said but let me tell you what I mean…
One of my thoughts on laying the blog out was to plan out a regular schedule that would support my blogging habits. I like lots of different things and have a lot of interests and allowing them to leak all over the place would not be a pretty thing. The way I’ve started out here it looks like Saturday will be for thoughts on sports, Sunday for Calvary and Monday for Monday with the rest of days of the week having less structure (figure I can handle just a little serendipity).
Mondays are an important to me as the focus of the day is on Things That I Learned on Sunday. Noting informs quite like a day full of people and conversations and work/church ministries that worked or didn’t. If they did, what did I do well? If not, what did I not do that I should have? For example we had the third meeting of our citywide youth group yesterday and I was there with two of our kids and one of our adult leaders and it was fun on a beautiful day at one of our sister churches. I got to spend some time with a group of middle-school kids and we had a good conversation about names as they pertain to God and as they pertain to our group. I really enjoy this age range as they still have a little bit of the child in them with a touch of that maturity that is lowly making its way into their lives. I’ve been in on the ground floor with the development of this group and the fact that it is gaining some traction is incredibly rewarding. On the other hand the fact that church of our size only had two kids was disappointing so I need to think about how to get a better response. I’ll do some meditation, communication and look at the organizational piece to see what I might try to promote the ministry and otherwise just try and get better.
Monday is also a day to reach out to new people or returning people who I haven’t seen for a while and find the right way to do so. A way that doesn’t involve guilt or any sort of negative though but just says “it was nice to see you” in a very genuine way. This is a mission critical thing in that often times when people are away from the church for a while they carry that guilt with them and anything that reaffirms that guilt makes it all that much easier to stay away the next time when they are contemplating coming.
Monday is also one of the days that I talk to my sister. She lives in Portland, Maine and has a life with lots of complications. I love her dearly and she me but the connection is one that requires maintenance. That might sound like obligation and to be honest there are days when it feels that way but she is my only sibling and worthy of whatever it takes to keep a strong connection. And as it often is with the important relationships in your life when you enter into it with love as a foundation you get back far more than what you put out.
Blessings for now.
One of my thoughts on laying the blog out was to plan out a regular schedule that would support my blogging habits. I like lots of different things and have a lot of interests and allowing them to leak all over the place would not be a pretty thing. The way I’ve started out here it looks like Saturday will be for thoughts on sports, Sunday for Calvary and Monday for Monday with the rest of days of the week having less structure (figure I can handle just a little serendipity).
Mondays are an important to me as the focus of the day is on Things That I Learned on Sunday. Noting informs quite like a day full of people and conversations and work/church ministries that worked or didn’t. If they did, what did I do well? If not, what did I not do that I should have? For example we had the third meeting of our citywide youth group yesterday and I was there with two of our kids and one of our adult leaders and it was fun on a beautiful day at one of our sister churches. I got to spend some time with a group of middle-school kids and we had a good conversation about names as they pertain to God and as they pertain to our group. I really enjoy this age range as they still have a little bit of the child in them with a touch of that maturity that is lowly making its way into their lives. I’ve been in on the ground floor with the development of this group and the fact that it is gaining some traction is incredibly rewarding. On the other hand the fact that church of our size only had two kids was disappointing so I need to think about how to get a better response. I’ll do some meditation, communication and look at the organizational piece to see what I might try to promote the ministry and otherwise just try and get better.
Monday is also a day to reach out to new people or returning people who I haven’t seen for a while and find the right way to do so. A way that doesn’t involve guilt or any sort of negative though but just says “it was nice to see you” in a very genuine way. This is a mission critical thing in that often times when people are away from the church for a while they carry that guilt with them and anything that reaffirms that guilt makes it all that much easier to stay away the next time when they are contemplating coming.
Monday is also one of the days that I talk to my sister. She lives in Portland, Maine and has a life with lots of complications. I love her dearly and she me but the connection is one that requires maintenance. That might sound like obligation and to be honest there are days when it feels that way but she is my only sibling and worthy of whatever it takes to keep a strong connection. And as it often is with the important relationships in your life when you enter into it with love as a foundation you get back far more than what you put out.
Blessings for now.
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The importance of salvation.
11/04/12 12:13
Its Sunday and as always there are lots of pieces especially this time of the year. Adding in the fact that this is also the day the clocks change (thankfully backwards) it should be an interesting and gratifying day…
We have our children’s choir doing the choral introit at both services and I’m hoping that all of their work pays off. It’s been a few weeks of early practice followed by a (this week) evening practice and I’d like to think this is something that has some legs. For a church like ours music is an important way for people to represent their faith and that truly shouldn’t be the province of older people. Our children’s choir director Gabrielle Goozee-Nichols has worked hard with the kids: music yes but also presence and presentation. And today’s work will ultimately work toward their next endeavor which will be, yes, the Christmas pageant.
I’ll be teaching the older kids and we’ll be talking about salvation, something that showed up a number of times during the mission trip. I’ll mostly be focused on the two basic models: Conversion and Gradualist and don’t for a second think that because I used those words I’m any expert. I get the basic idea that the conversionist model is epiphanal model i.e. being born again while the gradualist model is more what I’m accustomed to. The idea that I’m being changed day by day is something I’m comfortable with and I think that might also be something that makes sense to our kids.
I had a chance to talk about this yesterday with my friend Stephanie along with many other things as we went out for a very long walk. Eight miles through many neighborhoods in San Francisco on a gorgeous day is my idea of an afternoon (especially since we finished with ice cream). Walking really allows my brain to engage and when I’m with somebody that knows me and that I know so well it creates a space that is deftly sacred. By the time we were done I was tired but in a very peaceful way. We talked faith in many forms and I was deftly feeling the presence of God by the time I was back home.
In the afternoon we’ll have our third District Five Youth Group meeting at Christ United Church and we’ll try and come up with a name for our group and as my part will lead the middle-schoolers in a conversation about the many names of God. Lots of opportunity for fun with this and I’ll report back on whatever happens. So out the door a bit after 7:00 am and home by 4:00 pm and then I’ll definitely be ready for some football and my charge to the top. I take this pretty seriously but that will have to wait.
Peace & blessings to all!
Selah.
We have our children’s choir doing the choral introit at both services and I’m hoping that all of their work pays off. It’s been a few weeks of early practice followed by a (this week) evening practice and I’d like to think this is something that has some legs. For a church like ours music is an important way for people to represent their faith and that truly shouldn’t be the province of older people. Our children’s choir director Gabrielle Goozee-Nichols has worked hard with the kids: music yes but also presence and presentation. And today’s work will ultimately work toward their next endeavor which will be, yes, the Christmas pageant.
I’ll be teaching the older kids and we’ll be talking about salvation, something that showed up a number of times during the mission trip. I’ll mostly be focused on the two basic models: Conversion and Gradualist and don’t for a second think that because I used those words I’m any expert. I get the basic idea that the conversionist model is epiphanal model i.e. being born again while the gradualist model is more what I’m accustomed to. The idea that I’m being changed day by day is something I’m comfortable with and I think that might also be something that makes sense to our kids.
I had a chance to talk about this yesterday with my friend Stephanie along with many other things as we went out for a very long walk. Eight miles through many neighborhoods in San Francisco on a gorgeous day is my idea of an afternoon (especially since we finished with ice cream). Walking really allows my brain to engage and when I’m with somebody that knows me and that I know so well it creates a space that is deftly sacred. By the time we were done I was tired but in a very peaceful way. We talked faith in many forms and I was deftly feeling the presence of God by the time I was back home.
In the afternoon we’ll have our third District Five Youth Group meeting at Christ United Church and we’ll try and come up with a name for our group and as my part will lead the middle-schoolers in a conversation about the many names of God. Lots of opportunity for fun with this and I’ll report back on whatever happens. So out the door a bit after 7:00 am and home by 4:00 pm and then I’ll definitely be ready for some football and my charge to the top. I take this pretty seriously but that will have to wait.
Peace & blessings to all!
Selah.
Basketball: a new season begins, hope returns, blows out a knee.
11/03/12 10:45
I was at the home opener of the Golden State Warriors last night with my good friend Steve and somewhere in the second half he looked at me with a smile and said “this is really a roller coaster for you”. Man the truth in that was undeniable. While I am a sports guy pretty much all of the time and appreciate all of the local teams and teams and players from around the world nothing moves me like my Warriors. This is somewhat problematic in that they’ve been horribly managed and made decision that have left me sleepless yet I will not turn away. The reality of that reality hit home during the lockout last season and I guess I’ve finally accepted this as the truth. Yes, the Giant’s are great and the A’s season was miraculous but all that pales next to the place my Warrior’s hold in my heart. Sickness and death, good times and bad, etc. I am a Warrior (last year’s ad campaign). So last night was a big night for me.
The start to the evening was brilliant. Walking into the arena as early as dual and noting all of the little touches (big, bright new screen at center court) and the things that haven’t changed all that much (bad food) and then there was the national anthem and the player introductions and the volume of 18,000 other fans and then the game was off and I was invested. Of course this being the Warrior’s there was never any doubt that something was going to happen and the moment was on a mad dash to the basket by Brandon Rush who rose in the air, cocked back his arm for a massive throw down of a dunk that was going to send the crowd to a whole new level of noise. Except during that time in the air he got a push in the back from one Zach Randolph that did just enough to change his flight pattern and he landed awkwardly, painful on his knee and the noise just stopped. He was on the ground with a look on his face that showed he was in tremendous pain and just seconds seemingly later he was carried off the court to the locker room. News is that he’s have an MRI today but I don’t think anyone anticipates there being that much food news as it relates to him and his knee.
The rest of the game was the rest of the game and while there were positive moments and negative moments (they lost by 10) it was apparent that there was a lingering impact of the injury on the team (and not just the team but the aforementioned Randolph who to my mind is not a dirty player and who felt really bad about what happened to Rush). The two hour trip home on BART and then the 38-Geary (man in a wheelchair who made the driver stop and call the police because one of the passengers insulted him which brought a bus full of passengers to a stop and did nothing for my frame of mind) got me home around midnight exhausted and wondering why I let this stuff hold on to me this way. Whatever the reason it does have a hold on me so I guess that’s one more thing to figure out and something that social media is not going to help me with. Prayer and mediation? Perhaps but in the short term I’m going to go out for a walk with one of my dearest friends and hope that creates space for God to come in and give me some understanding.
In the meantime, the Warriors play tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers and I’ll be in front of the television rooting my team on.
Peace.
The start to the evening was brilliant. Walking into the arena as early as dual and noting all of the little touches (big, bright new screen at center court) and the things that haven’t changed all that much (bad food) and then there was the national anthem and the player introductions and the volume of 18,000 other fans and then the game was off and I was invested. Of course this being the Warrior’s there was never any doubt that something was going to happen and the moment was on a mad dash to the basket by Brandon Rush who rose in the air, cocked back his arm for a massive throw down of a dunk that was going to send the crowd to a whole new level of noise. Except during that time in the air he got a push in the back from one Zach Randolph that did just enough to change his flight pattern and he landed awkwardly, painful on his knee and the noise just stopped. He was on the ground with a look on his face that showed he was in tremendous pain and just seconds seemingly later he was carried off the court to the locker room. News is that he’s have an MRI today but I don’t think anyone anticipates there being that much food news as it relates to him and his knee.
The rest of the game was the rest of the game and while there were positive moments and negative moments (they lost by 10) it was apparent that there was a lingering impact of the injury on the team (and not just the team but the aforementioned Randolph who to my mind is not a dirty player and who felt really bad about what happened to Rush). The two hour trip home on BART and then the 38-Geary (man in a wheelchair who made the driver stop and call the police because one of the passengers insulted him which brought a bus full of passengers to a stop and did nothing for my frame of mind) got me home around midnight exhausted and wondering why I let this stuff hold on to me this way. Whatever the reason it does have a hold on me so I guess that’s one more thing to figure out and something that social media is not going to help me with. Prayer and mediation? Perhaps but in the short term I’m going to go out for a walk with one of my dearest friends and hope that creates space for God to come in and give me some understanding.
In the meantime, the Warriors play tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers and I’ll be in front of the television rooting my team on.
Peace.
A different kind of tension.
11/02/12 10:44
Not so long ago the bus to work was the rule and not the exception. As anyone who regularly rides the bus knows when you ride MUNI on a daily basis you generally ride at the same time, sit in pretty close to the same seat and see the same people. You notice things about them in sort of an abstract way: different clothes, mannerisms, etc., and even if they seem to be having a particularly good or bad day.
There was one man in particular that I was sort of drawn to because unlike most riders who had their books or phones or tablets or whatever, he carried a set of rosary beads. He’d sit down, nod at me and then pull out the beads and go to work. This was an interesting thing to see and something that was not the norm though the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Looking around at the bus and the other riders there was any number of electronic devices: iPhones and iPads, Kindles and Blackberry’s. There were people with the signature white Apple earbuds and people with bigger, gaudier (i.e. Beats) models and all of them seeking to be in a place that was, well another place than that actually were. So what’s the difference between my friend with the rosary and these other people with their devices?
One might argue that the beads were his way of connecting with God while the others were just engaging in a little light escapism and I guess you would have a point. I think though of Neil Gaiman and his book American Gods. American Gods talks about an America founded by immigrants who came here and brought their own gods with them. As people habituated themselves to this place and to the other people that are/were here they gradually moved away from those gods and the gods themselves were in danger of fading completely away. Not only that but that that they were about to face a final battle with the newest god of all: technology.
In the month of November I’m going to try and move away from technology or at least the social media that I use the most. No tweets or status updates on Facebook. There’s still and always email but I feel a need to move away from a 140 character limit on what I’m thinking and/or doing and why it should be important for me or you to say or hear. Instead I’ll do my best to blog on a daily basis on what I’m thinking about and dealing with in work and in my private life. I’ll try and stretch out a bit to talk about the things that are important to me and why that is the case. There might be pictures or snippets of music or who know’s what. It is important for me to connect with people and since it’s not always possible to do so in person and the default has been Facebook, hopefully the bog somewhat suffices.
Blessings.
There was one man in particular that I was sort of drawn to because unlike most riders who had their books or phones or tablets or whatever, he carried a set of rosary beads. He’d sit down, nod at me and then pull out the beads and go to work. This was an interesting thing to see and something that was not the norm though the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Looking around at the bus and the other riders there was any number of electronic devices: iPhones and iPads, Kindles and Blackberry’s. There were people with the signature white Apple earbuds and people with bigger, gaudier (i.e. Beats) models and all of them seeking to be in a place that was, well another place than that actually were. So what’s the difference between my friend with the rosary and these other people with their devices?
One might argue that the beads were his way of connecting with God while the others were just engaging in a little light escapism and I guess you would have a point. I think though of Neil Gaiman and his book American Gods. American Gods talks about an America founded by immigrants who came here and brought their own gods with them. As people habituated themselves to this place and to the other people that are/were here they gradually moved away from those gods and the gods themselves were in danger of fading completely away. Not only that but that that they were about to face a final battle with the newest god of all: technology.
In the month of November I’m going to try and move away from technology or at least the social media that I use the most. No tweets or status updates on Facebook. There’s still and always email but I feel a need to move away from a 140 character limit on what I’m thinking and/or doing and why it should be important for me or you to say or hear. Instead I’ll do my best to blog on a daily basis on what I’m thinking about and dealing with in work and in my private life. I’ll try and stretch out a bit to talk about the things that are important to me and why that is the case. There might be pictures or snippets of music or who know’s what. It is important for me to connect with people and since it’s not always possible to do so in person and the default has been Facebook, hopefully the bog somewhat suffices.
Blessings.
