Swimming (upstream, downstream, cross-stream) Part I

Contrary to what may seem like widespread knowledge - - Swimming is NOT natural. Human beings are poorly designed aquatic beings: the shape of our faces puts noses in the least advantageous location, while our feet may function adequately to paddle around and our arms may learn a more functional manner of propulsion - we are not designed to live our lives in the water. (Lets all just agree that Michael Phelps is a freak and move on from there, k?)

And yet we swim? why is that?

Watching 'Oceans' the other day - I watched the sea turtles flip/flop their way down the beach toward the surf - of the 1000s that started out, the one that made it (at least on film) flopped instinctively into the water and dove for safety. Nobody had to teach him, nobody was there to guide, encourage, cajole her/him into the water. Water was life - Water was safety - Water is survival.

I watched the mamma seal coaching her pup toward the hole in the ice. Once there, the pup stuck her head into the water, looked around, the mamma blew a little at her - and she slid in - and under the ice. No sputtering panic and arms flailing to wipe the water out of its face; no gasping, no dear-in-the-headlights look (seal-in-the-shark-mouth?) at discovering the new-found sensation of complete submersion. The mamma coached, encouraged, but deep down the pup knew (was genetically programmed) what to do. Hold your breath and swim.

Humans? Not so much. Sure, there are Mamma/Baby swim classes where the infants learn to play, hold breath, swim, etc with the close supervision of their parent, but with the vast number of pool drownings each year by infant/toddlers, I'm drawn way wide of the speculation that presumes swimming to be a natural human enterprise. After teaching swim lessons for 5 years, my experience tells me that swimming is oh so NOT a natural human endeavor.

Fear and Water go hand in hand, like closets and claustrophobia. But I can testify, not simply from an observational experience, but from an experiential experience. I've been to the mountain top that is the pool slide and I have looked down from those lofty places and have had to walk myself down the ladder for fear of what lay at the bottom. I've been to the tippy top of the high dive, scooted out toward the terminal end of the springy board, only to have to balance my way back on wobbly knees toward the safety of the hand-rail, and then force my way down the ladder past the line of would-be leapers, like a salmon swimming downstream.

I know those fears, but I also can say I have overcome those fears. They have not forever claimed me and I've been to those mountain-tops and have flung myself with abandon from those lofty places (although I still firmly believe that the human being's feet were never NEVER meant to swap orientation with one's head - but that's another story). As I've been to the tippy top, I've been to the very bottom (of the pool, that is) - I've taught the very basic beginner swim class where the greatest challenge the student overcame was putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles - and I cheered her on. I've patiently tread water in freezing cold water (such is an outdoor pool in a small North Idaho logging town in June) giving instructions to the lifesaving class. I've hunkered down (in attempt to keep my shoulders submerged in water that's warmer than the air), time and again teaching/instructing/waiting for that moment when the idea of floating becomes a reality - and lights come on - and doors open up - and the possibility of really SWIMMING begins to take root.

Now, I will admit - there is joy to be had with the more advanced classes - those who know all the basics. Standing on the deck giving instructions, helping give 'proper' shape to the motion of their arms and legs - providing encouragement to what they already know, that being, the ability to trust in the water. But I found more joy and excitement, a greater sense of pride and accomplishment having walked (swum) with a non-swimmer into and through this advanced stage. Maybe someone can sympathize, empathize, or rationalize this from their own experience. IDK.

But the greatest, GREATEST - hands down - biggest challenge to meet is an adult non-swimmer who had decided he/she wants to become a swimmer. Friends, this is where a lifetime of fear and anxieties come back full force - everything that's ever been cause for fearing the water weighs itself into the limbs of the wanna-be swimmer, preventing them from the very basic, and yet so necessary skill of floating. Everything they've been told about themself and what they can and can not do - everything they've told themself about what they can and cannot do -every fear of what might happen, could happen, or most certainly will happen in that 4ft of water plagues their mind and settles into their heels, rooting their feet into the bottom of the pool; they are incapable of exercising even the most basic practices of trusting in the water (ie floating) until the burden and weight of the years of fears are in someway addressed. The question is how? when? Will this happen?

Now, as tempting as it may be to focus my frustration of NOT being able to make them float (let alone swim) on THEM; as tempting as it may be for me to blame them for being afraid - how compassionate is that? How patient and kind is that? How loving is that? How responsible are they for their fears? How much responsibility have they taken for their fears, for the messages about themself they've been receiving over a lifetime? A trusting relationship cannot be built on a bed of underlying fears.

Non swimming adults can and do learn to swim; maybe not as adeptly as their younger counterparts, maybe not as fluently and freely as they might have in a previous age - but they do, and can take great joy in the places this new found freedom will take them.

Swimming is no more an innately human endeavor than living a life of faith is. True - humanity is created in the image of God and our souls are most at rest we find full rest in the one who created us. But a lifetime of perceptions, mis-perceptions, self-evaluations revealing inadequacy; leaders, friends, family preying on those inadequacies. This all creates an atmosphere where folks are fearful of stepping outside the norms, out of bounds for fear they'll be chastised, ridiculed, and mocked or worse, outcast. How to swim with a population of people plagued by fears? Patient, persistent, presence; realizing that their fears and anxieties neither define me, nor describe me but also realizing that in swimming with them, I will better understand the nature of fear and of their fears - and maybe some of my own.

(to be continued)

Lord, Teach us to Pray

Lord, teach us to pray! was the request, petition, the plea from Jesus’ disciples (Luke 11:1).

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us, each day, our daily bread. And forgive our sins, in the say manner that we, ourselves, forgive everyone indebted to us.

And bring us not to the time of trial.”

This very familiar prayer, found in both Matthew and Luke, though in varying forms, has been foundational for many Christians in our developing prayer life. If we’ve not been taught directly the words of this prayer, we certainly have ample opportunity to hear them recited each week in Sunday worship service; by nothing else, sheer repetition itself provides for a well-worn path that ingrains these words into our brain, and at the start of ‘Our Father . . .” many of us are capable of following along, almost without thinking about it. But, Jesus’ instruction is not limited to the ‘what’ to pray, but extends to the ‘how’ and even to the ‘why.’

The opening stanza, in addition to paying God the proper respect for being GOD, it affirms that ‘we’ are not God. In praying these words, we acknowledge that the order of this world, this cosmos, this culture and community lack a functional expression of God’s hopes, God’s intent, God’s Will in our life; “Your Will be done . . .”

As the Body of Christ, praying weekly, daily, each moment – faithful brothers and sisters lift the petition – “Give us, each day, daily bread . . .” and in doing so, the prayer is for our daily basic, human needs to be filled; yet how many across this world, this cosmos, this culture and community suffer not only a lack of food, but an absence of human contact, a shortage of dignity, deplorable living situations, dearth of meaningful purpose and guilt and shame compounded by a want of forgiveness as well. ‘Why is this’ we wonder silently (or maybe not so silently).

The abundance of basic daily sufficiency, from food to forgiveness, is the tangible expression of God’s Will and the Divine Kingdom we earnestly pray for week after week, day after day, moment by moment. Why does God not answer: Is God not listening? Or are we not listening?

The strength of faith, the power of our convictions as the Body of Christ is that this prayer is not a list of hopes we offer up to God for God to attend to, if God so chooses; but by Jesus’ own words to his followers, comprises the fullness of what God is doing to provide Life for the lifeless, to shine light on those living in darkness. Do we not see it? Can we not sense it? Watch for it; wait for it; expect it.

Jesus goes on in the 11^th chapter of Luke’s Gospel to explain that the active part of prayer is NOT just in the petitioning (vs. 9). Prayer is not a passive activity we engage in to make our wishes known to God, but is coupled to action: seek and knock. Now, this activity is not a blind search for something in a haystack; we’ve been told what is good, what is right, what is God’s will – (providing for the abundance of daily sufficiency may also be expressed “Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly “(Micah 6: 8]): God answers our prayer - - how vested are we in seeking out the answers, knocking on the doors of possibilities? And how open are we to walking through the doors that present themselves, trusting that God has already provided for Life (abundant daily sufficiency) for all? Do we see it? Will we sense it? Watch for it; wait for it; expect it.

Here in this part of the Body of Christ, our prayers are for life, vibrancy, and a faithful and meaningful purpose here in Phoenix, Oregon. I firmly believe that God has plan, a hope, and a will for 1^st Presbyterian Church of Phoenix. It’s not something that we have to plan out and offer up for Divine approval but rather accept it by living into God’s Will for this community, faithfully seeking-out every expression of God’s kingdom here in this part of the cosmos. Doing so will entail joyfully and faithfully listening for God’s guidance, in all circumstances- from the seemingly large and grandiose to the mistakenly small and mundane. Toward that end, your Session hopes to be more transparent as to what the needs of our congregation are.

The filters in our furnace are in need of being changed. While this may seem like a relatively small duty to perform, what’s needed is not simply a person to change the filters one time, but for the means for them to be changed on a consistent basis. Whether this is one person who routinely checks and changes the filters, or one person who schedules different persons to change the filters, the HOW this monthly maintenance happens is less important than THAT it happens. And when we consider that furnace failure will amount to $10-15K in replacement costs – suddenly this becomes of even greater importance. How has God provided for this aspect of our ministry to be accomplished at 1^st Presbyterian Church of Phoenix?

Who prayerfully discerns the answer to this, and many other questions facing our congregation? Structurally this falls to your session, but over the past many years, energies and persons ablity to commit to serving this function have waned – leaving the bulk of the prayerful consideration and work to reside on fewer and fewer people. We face a crisis of leadership in that for 2012, we have no returning elders to sit on the Session of 1^st Presbyterian Church. I believe God is providing the course through this crisis, but the congregation must prayerfully commit to searching out and discovering this pathway and support those who will walk through the doors of possibility. It will be through faithful commitment and loving support that we will come to know in greater ways the blessing of Life God holds for 1^st Presbyterian Church of Phoenix.

Weeds - Weeds everywhere - and not a drop of roundup

Weeds - - everybody’s got them; and nobody likes them. They disturb site-lines; visually muddy-up an otherwise pristine-green lawn; and can be painful to step on.

I spent a bit of time over vacation (and in the early morning hours) pulling weeds in the back yard. It’s been on my mind. Also, during my vacation time, Jesus parable about the ‘Wheat and the Tares’ came round in the lectionary (Matthew 13: 24-43) – and I missed preaching on it. So, for these reasons, I’m now taking the opportunity here/now to talk about weeds- or rather, the eradication of weeds.

In the parable, the workers’ primary concern is removing the offending vegetation – and rightfully so. The question becomes: What is the most beneficial means of getting rid of weeds? The workers’ suggestion of just ripping all the weeds out of the ground was tempered with the farmer’s concern for the healthy, intended fruit growing alongside the weeds. How do we go about eliminating the weeds in our fields all the while cultivating and nurturing the good things growing in our midst?

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, could easily talk about desires of self-indulgence, sexual vice, antagonisms, rivalry, jealousy impurity, bad temper quarrels, factions, malice, and drunkenness (Gal. 5: 17-20) as weeds, even as he speaks about the fruits of the Spirit (those things we want to encourage and cultivate: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control). How to remove and eradicate the former (weeds) without disrupting the growth and flourishing of the later (good fruits)? Upon this, one can spend an eternity in prayer and meditation.

A couple years ago, the backyard at the manse was nothing more than a collection of weeds; the large maple tree, with its canopy shading much (most) of the backyard, prevented anything but the sparsest of grass to grow. The long-overdue removal of this tree caused an abundance of bright sunshine to warm the readily available fresh ground; weeds found a footing and went wild. These past couple of years, we’ve taken to address the presence of these weeds for the unsightly, unkempt state they are. But how?

We could have gone the Round-Up method – kill everything and start over - That seemed a bit harsh We could have gone through with a shovel and dug out each of the weeds. That’s a lotta ground and a whole lotta weeds and a whole lotta time bent over. We, instead, opted to nurture the good, healthy grass/lawn that’s growing. As the lawn has gotten thicker, greener, healthier- the weeds have found less and less ground where they can take root.

Now, it’s taken some hard work. Into this space, we’ve cut some new flower beds and a raised garden area; we’ve had to keep the weeds (and grasses) from growing here. We installed a dividing fence to keep the dog out of the garden.We have spent time bent over, pulling weeds; we’ve had to get water, consistently, on the lawn (and garden). This will be a process that never ends (cause there will always be weeds), but the healthier the yard is maintained, the fewer issues we have with weeds.

A similar dynamic can be seen in covenant communities; where healthy evidence of the Fruits of the Spirit flourish (or are being cultivated), the weedy evidence of our sinful nature is less apt to find a roothold.

Truthfully, I see this here at 1^st Presbyterian Church; by bolstering, encouraging, nurturing the healthy fruits of the Spirit, those that are self-giving, I hope we are creating an environment, inhospitable for those weedy fruits of the self-indulgent variety. Will we ever be completely devoid of these ‘weeds’? No, but being aware of how to better control them, we’re less apt to be controlled by them. And we can then feel all the more free to focus on the luscious growth of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Life in the meddle

I've been drawn this week to the Acts 17 passage from last week (6th sunday of Easter.) Why?? may have something to do with me being out of the pulpit last sunday and not having the opportunity to wrestle with it, or some simple nudging of the Spirit, or (insert 3rd rail here.)

Whatever the reason, it's found its way into the liturgy and as a call to worship/proclaimation leading us into the worship service. Not sure how it will function that way - but we'll just have to see now, won't we.

As I glanced through the various section Feasting on the Word has to offer on this particular pericope, I settled into the 'Pastoral Perspective' in hopes of gleaning some insights into this narrative of Paul addressing the people of Athens.

Rick Mixon (the author of this section) lifted up some words and perspectives from William Willimon that applauds Paul's ability, willingness to address this audience at the place where they reside, in all their uncertainty and anxiety.

Willimon writes: "The church, rather than standing back from pagan religiosity, pointing our fingers in righteous indignation, should, like Paul in Athens, minister to their searching."

It struck me that if the church, rather than stepping back from the polarized religiosity, pointing our fingers in self-righteous indignation - what if we were able to (what if I were willing to) reach out to those - to engage the "them" in their search for what is true, what is honorable, what is just. Maybe if we (I) were able to do as Paul did for those who are a part of what we define as 'The Body of Christ' - maybe there'd be a greater prophetic witness to those who yet find themself apart from the Body of Christ.

Peace,

Small Steps - - HUGE Successes

What are the congregational sages of the day saying about the hopes and possibilities for churches in this 21^st Century? Don’t know about all of them, but Anthony Robinson, a minister in the United Church of Christ, preacher, teacher, and nationally renowned church consultant has words of hope for what the church, the body of Christ can do – and be in these changing and challenging times.

This past weekend I travelled to First Presbyterian Church of Vancouver, WA for this year’s Cascades Presbytery Leadership Fair. I attended to offer perspective on the Community Kitchen being housed bi-monthly within the walls of 1^st PC Phoenix. As part of a 3 person panel (one of which has been working with a church’s community kitchen for the past 5 years, another who began serving meals as part of the hospitality their congregation offers nightly as a warming center for homeless families) I was able to, not only share some thoughts, but to hear some perspectives on not only the ‘Why’ questions, but the ‘what’ the ‘how’ and entertain some ‘what if’ questions.

We did not have as many participants in our workshop as we’d had signed up – but that’s okay, as I’m sure those who skipped out, did so to attend the workshop offered by the event’s keynote speaker, Tony Robinson. (I’d thought myself that I’d like to sit in on his presentation – but in the morning I’d signed up for a discussion on the issues/dynamics in Israel/Palestine. Very thought provoking in its own right.)

But I did get to hear the keynote speaker offer challenging, yet hope-filled, words of encouragement. Challenging – in some of the anecdotes he shared about travels around these United States congregations. In one locale (Minnesota), he told of a conversation that came out of a series of interviews with both longtime members and members new to the faith. One of the new believers shared something of a concern she felt. When she started attending, she heard about prayer, and having experienced and encountered God – but when she asked one of the longtime members about his faith/prayer life, she said, ‘you’d have thought I’d asked him about his sex life’ (to paraphrase). One of the struggles, in which mainline churches may have become entangled, is the misperception that ‘faith’ is private; it may be personal, but far from private. This misperception has lead to a growing inability to speak of the deeply spiritual in ways that allow their faith, their sense of the divine to pass to the next generation of believer.

The good news is that God is sovereign and is working, even though it may not be how we envision. He shared this reflection on his website:

I was in Vancouver, Washington last weekend speaking at a Presbyterian event. I spent some time with people from a struggling and aging congregation in Portland, Oregon. The congregation had put on a block party for the neighborhood. But they felt it was a failure because it did not result in anyone coming from the neighborhood to their worship services. I told them that simply getting out of their building, getting to know the new neighbors, and having people come to the block party was a huge success--not at all a failure. Small steps.

Small steps, but HUGE successes – Successes we of 1^st PC Phoenix are joyfully stepping into.

Life in a fishbowl

Growing up as a preacher's kid, I was aware of the subtle differences between myself and my friends. It wasn't that I saw myself better than them; I did not see my family as somehow special because of who Dad was; the subtle difference was that my dad in his particular vocation had a platform from which comical, humorous, slightly embarrassing anecdotes of my childhood might find their way to anywhere from 75-125 pairs of ears (+or-). These 'sharings' were not a regular part of the Sunday morning proclamation, and there was never anything overly 'awkward' - (the most was when I heard how I got dizzy when I closed my eyes while praying). For the most part, no biggie - I'm not in therapy as a result of my life in the fishbowl of the pastor's family (although I may be abnormal in this fact.)

As scarred as I'm not from this, I am at least sympathetic to the dynamic possibilities of abusive over-sharing - that now as a preacher myself, I've (on occasion) come and apologized to my kids for some momentarily lapse of reason that might view the kids as simply one extended sermon illustration.

With that set-up, let me delve into the heart of my question: Having perused many blogs, websites, lurked on social media sites, read folks postings about their work, their hobbies, I've observed that an all too recurrent theme is one of 'family' - primarily the kids. Now, don't get me wrong; I'm all for sharing about the kids, the fun things they do and great people they are (and the better people they try to become); however, many (a majority?) of the writings, blogs, informative offerings recount less-than-flattering anecdotes about behavior, attitudes, temper-tantrums, potty training, etc.

My curiosity wonders what's the potential when, 5, 10, 15, 2 years from now, while 'googling' their name, a child (no particular child in mind) happens across the blog, the writing, the online diary of their life (though not of their making), and realizes that it's been shared with (not 75-125) millions dare I project billions of people, and that what's been shared is not simply the 'good stuff', the flattering, affirming, fun stuff - but the less than flattering anecdotes about behavior, attitudes, temper-tantrums, potty training etc. - How will the upcoming generation respond to this? Will they see it as an invasion of their privacy? Will they come back to us as parents and exclaim, "How could you?!" Will they subtly decide that the uber-connectivity their parents observed is not gonna work for them? Will they feel betrayed? Or will they be so accustomed to this newly minted social-media world that it won't faze them in the least?

I don't know; I can only speculate based on my own limited experience of life in a fishbowl?

What do you think?

The Blank Slate

New Year’s Eve, for much of American society (it seems), provides an opportunity, the venue (dare I say an excuse?) to take one particular aspect of their life – and commit to making a change for the better. It may be a physical change such as exercising, dieting, or being better attentive to one’s health conditions. Maybe it’s an attitudinal change that one seeks, and so we see the commitments to be nicer, to love more, to embody thankfulness and appreciation. There are innumerable New Year’s Resolutions that people take on each year.

Why do we choose the coming new year to embark on these life changing endeavors? There is something of a mystique to the coming of January 1, beyond that sense of pride when we correctly write the new year’s date on our checks. There’s something about the newness, the freshness, that sense of a clean slate on which we might write anew some small aspect of our lives. What newness, what fresh outlooks will you write in; what old habits, what outdated attitudes will you write out of this coming year?

But by saying ‘small aspect’ I certainly do not impart any lack of significance. For simply recognizing the gift this opportunity is (to be and do better) carries great significance. It signifies that the ‘who’ we have been does not define the ‘who’ we are to become. Upon that blank slate, upon which you may write in that new sense of who you are – who are you becoming? What criteria will we utilize in determining who we should become?

Whatever the rational for the desired change, whatever the criteria for who the ‘new me’ should be, the coming New Year provides both the motive and the opportunity, and there is safety in numbers to set out and try something new: ‘everybody’s doing it.’ But no sooner do we get started in fulfilling these ‘New Year Resolutions’ that the stark realities set in: as ‘everyone’ was beginning them – so ‘everyone’ is breaking them – and feeling resigned to live out the rest of the year thinking “Next year, I’ll do better.”

But, that attitude does not accurately reflect life in the Body of Christ, the Church. Because, we need not wait until a change of the calendar to step back into that mode of living for the New Life, we need not put off until the next major date change to consider how Life could be better, and we certainly don’t need to live the next 11 months with the burden of what we were incapable of completing.

We live, moment to moment, 24/7/365 trusting the grace of God to pick us up from our mis-steps, dust us off, and send us back out to live into Life – with the simple admonition – ‘Be faithful with what you’ve been given.’ So, what will you do with the blank slate you’ve been blessed with in this new year? In this new month? In this new moment? What acts and attitudes of faithfulness will you inscribe into this New Life God is creating you for?

Blessings and Peace be yours in all this gift of New Life affords for you.

Rev. Mike