words about the Word

GOD SENT
THE WORD
BECAME FLESH AND BLOOD
WORD IS GOD
GOD IS LOVE
BECAUSE
A LOVELESS WORLD
IS A SIGHTLESS WORLD

(the photo, taken at 125th street and broadway in new york, inspired the above spoken word when I was meditating on the incarnation around christmas and asking God to show himself to me in the city)

--for more on spoken word copy and paste this address into your browser: http://www.msu.edu/~miazgama/spokenword.htm

--to hear a spoken word artist who performed at soulfest two years ago copy and paste this: http://www.judahisrael.com/I%20AM%20live.mp3

Tuesday, May 30th - Where and What?

I publicly want to thank Scott for offering his home for a future meeting. Leah and I just confirmed that we can get childcare for June 6th, but NOT for tomorrow (May 30th). So, let's plan to meet at Scott's house on June 6th and we will have one final discussion about God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth then!

Tomorrow, May 30th, let's plan on meeting at Leah and my house, 8 Belmont Ave, 6pm for Dinner, 7pm for discussion.

Keep checking back here to the blog and we'll have Scott post directions to his house for the June 6th meeting.

God borrowed my 1996 Chevy Blazer???

We literally just got back from the U2 Eucharist in Portland. Leah, Jess, and I met Laureh Johnson there (she was on her way back from lifeguard training in NH). To summarize, the U2 Eucharist was a valiant try, but in the end fell flat. It felt forced, awkward, disjointed. Ultimately, it just didn't feel like God showed up for the service.

But the U2 Eucharist was NOT why we were supposed to go to Portland...

On the way home, we had a hour-and-a-half conversation...and God showed up! Who knew He wanted to take us for a ride in my 1996 Chevy Blazer?!

Somehow, the conversation turned to the history of tragic deaths, widespread drug use, depression, teen pregnancy and blinding fatalism evidenced in some sectors of this community's culture.

I spoke of the fatalism that I have seen in some students; "Oh, that's just the way it is;" "Everybody uses drugs;" "Nothing is going to change things;" " _______________ (fill in program name or prevention idea) - THAT won't work here!"

We agreed that ultimately what needs to happen is a transformation of the culture - the worldview, the mindset, the ethos - of the community. Drug use is not acceptable. You have a future. You are too valuable to throw your life away. Sex is not the answer. You are not a victim - you can change things.

A transformation needs to take place in the ethos of this community. Ultimately, God is the only one who can transform a "culture of death" into a "culture of life." It begins and ends with Him. But what is OUR role?

OUR role? MY role? I can't do anything about this. The problem is too big. Too overwhelming. Too complex. Frankly, it's IMPOSSIBLE.

BUT haven't we been asking God what is the IMPOSSIBLE thing that He wants to accomplish IN and THROUGH US to show HIMSELF to be ALMIGHTLY?

Is THIS the impossible task we are supposed to undertake? Are WE supposed to be a part of somehow bringing change to the the ethos of this community?

On our very FIRST Tuesday together, I asked the question, "What do you bring to the table?" As Leah pointed out tonight; "That was the RIGHT question, but we all gave the WRONG answers." Our answers to the question were GOOD, but they were TOO SMALL. We mostly discussed musical and artistic talents.

But what about all the OTHER gifts, talents, and experiences that we each bring to the table!? You know - those gifts, talents, and experiences that God has given each one of us in order to SHAPE us for THIS MOMENT / to PREPARE US to answer the all consuming and eternally important question; "What is the IMPOSSIBLE thing that God want's to accomplish IN and THROUGH US to show Himself to be Almighty?"

God can borrow my Blazer anytime. It was worth the ride. I just wish I had a greater seating capacity so I could have fit all of you in there with us to join the discussion. So what do you think?

This Tuesday? And next?

Last Tuesday Scott announced that he'd be moving out of his place in Bayside on June 18th and would like to have everyone over before that. For those of you who don't know Bayside, it's beautiful--and Scott is just steps away from the ocean! The shoreline could make a nice setting for our last week of discussion on "God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth." I'm willing to make the drive and those of you coming from further south could park at my house and carpool the rest of the way.

Also discussed was the idea of a silent hike up Maiden's Cliff, letting our footfalls and our breathing join the ceaseless worship of God by His creation surrounding us. Hiking to the cross would make for a nice segue from "God the Creator" to "Jesus Christ, His Son."

How do each of you feel about meeting at Scott's this week? And then possibly going for a hike the following week? What are your concerns? Any other suggestions or ideas?

"Where all the windows are doors...."

I don't mean to post this so quickly after Scott's beautiful piece below. I had been writing bits and pieces of my following thoughts all week, and was about to delete them before I read Scott's words. But now.... Be sure to scroll down and read his first. I think there's a connection.

*******

You know, I'm not very good at giving recaps of events or conversations. This said, let me thank Julie & Steve for hosting a truly wonder-ful evening of food and conversation before I now indulge a weakness of mine by pursuing just a particular tangent of our most recent Tuesday night conversation, for what it's worth:

We experience and understand the world through symbols. Paintings, photos, candles on a birthday cake, church steeples, report cards, stories, handshakes, videos dramatizing songs, the songs themselves, the words that make up the songs....all are symbolic of greater meaning. Effectively using a symbol to communicate (think of the written word 'smile' for example) is like presenting a small door into a huge cavernous space beyond (the space of what it actually is and feels like to smile). It's exciting and a little bit terrifying. While religion focusses on the door--a beautiful one though it may be--relationship accepts the invitation to enter in. It is risky, to walk beyond the threshold of what can be too easily known.

Jesus taught by parables. "All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak." (Matthew 13:34) Parables are symbols, metaphors, stories that stand for greater, richer, deeper truths. Jesus himself was a symbol, a sign of God's love for us. His name (we spoke of the significance of names Tuesday night) means "God with us". And yet....Jesus was more than a symbol, he WAS God with us.

The living, breathing Word - by being just that! - bridged the gap between knowing God with our heads and knowing Him with our hearts. And if we were living in the experiencial, relational, totally-expansive-beyond-the-little-door, heart's knowlege of God, I mean REALLY living, I think we'd experience a mind blowing breakthrough in our perception of the world. Suddenly our handshakes would mean much more than social convention. We would be more care-ful in how we would call each other whether by proper name, by role, or by judgement, be it "friend", "crazy", "bum", or "those people who....". What do these 'names' really mean, anyway? Suddenly, we would 'see' a song beyond the blindfold of what a friend, a pastor, or a critic says we should believe about it. Who said U2 couldn't create a liturgical soundtrack? Just as Steve and Julie experienced, we would see songs not limited to the safe distance of their dramatized videos, but powerful enough to take form and sit right down in the pews with us. This is what Christ did: "The Word became flesh and moved into the 'hood." When we live this truth and know this truth, we paint our paintings, write our songs, dance our dances, and say our prayers not for our own 'warm-fuzzies' or for our artists' egos, but because we KNOW that our created things can effectively communicate GOD if they have become dwelling places in which to experience Him. Every word, every deed, every thought should be crushed and then re-created under this grace. It's risky and challenging--and I fail miserably and beautifully at it many times a day! God knows this and sends His love to me anyway. Selah.

Augustine spoke of all creation as pointing him to God the Maker. Created things (you and I included) are symbolic, parables that can be doors or windows to deeper understanding. As I mentioned the other night, God is opening up windows of understanding to me as I paint with Him. He's showing me how to view the chaos and colors of the world from my interior resting place in Him by looking through the Cross, through Christ, in the same way that I look through the intersecting panes on a window. The cross was never meant to be separate from the world, never meant to be just an abstract symbol, a pretty pattern on a painting. The cross was meant to give access to the fullness of life, the experience of all its colors pushing and pulling against each other to create one beautiful composition. Christ took on flesh, took on these colors of chaos to re-create order, to provide a frame of reference.



You know the saying, "Can't see the forest for the trees"? Well, beware of not seeing the view for the window panes. Thank you, Scott, for the window of your words, for your parable. That's a river seen through the window above.... Thank you for launching us down that river, daring us to experience it with you, with each other.

World On Fire

Wow. Check out this video from Sarah McLachlan: http://www.worldonfire.ca/

What are your reactions?

U2 Eucharist coming up on May 28th!

Remember that we are planning a field trip to Portland on Sunday evening, May 28th to go to the U2 Eucharist at St. Luke's Catherdral!

Contact Adam if you are interested in attending (we'll be taking our NEW church van!). The service begins at 7pm meaning we will probably have to meet and leave sometime around 5:00pm. We'll talk more about it tonight!

Read about it all in this Portland Press Herald article!

A New Law

Leah and I were so struck by the lyrics to this song by Derek Webb off of his most recent album Mockingbird.

Watch a video that was made using this song here.

The lyrics are below. I hope they impact you like they impacted us.

A New Law

(vs. 1)
don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for

don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music

don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus)
i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me

(chorus)
i want a new law
i want a new law
gimme that new law

(vs. 2)
don’t teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice

don’t teach me about loving my enemies

don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus/chorus)

(bridge)
what’s the use in trading a law you can never keep
for one you can that cannot get you anything
do not be afraid
do not be afraid
do not be afraid

Just for Fun

More on the Name "Intermission" (or Inter-Mission)

ON BEHALF OF JESS:

One thing (among more) that I like about the name Intermission:
MISSION
Inter=between. If "all the world's a stage" then between life and death we're on a mission.
giddy-up!
:-)

MY COMMENTS:

EXCELLENT JESS!!!

The dictionary defines the preposition inter- as such:
inter- pref. 1. Between; among. 2. In the midst of; within.

So in the mist of our MISSION, OUR LIFE, OUR PLAY, OUR POEM - we need all need a chance to stop, to reflect, and to reconnect with the Author and with our the other players.

It somehow reminds me of this quote from Erwin McManus' book Chasing Daylight : Seize the Power of Every Moment:
"If birth is sunrise and death is sunset, then inbetween we're all just chasing daylight."

BY THE WAY: If I sent you an invitation email and you want to POST to the Blog and not just RESPOND to MY comments, you need to click on the link in the email and follow the instructions to sign up for a FREE account.

God's Creative Acts

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The Greek word for workmanship is:



transliterated as POIEMA

It is the root from which we get our English word "POEM."

"For we are God's POEMS."

How does that strike you?

One final thought for the evening on community...

Refractions: Refractions Vol. 20: The Housewife that Could

Jess Stammen started circulating this today, so I figured it was worth posting for discussion.

Jess' comments:

• Hey, I was catching up on the blog of an artist-friend in NYC this morning....and found a perfect follow-through/expansion of a bit of a conversation I began to have with you, Laura and Leah, and then continued with Scott. Go to this link: http://www.makotofujimura.blogspot.com/ ... and then scroll down to Vol. 20, "The housewife that could," (second most recent entry). It's about Jane Jacobs, healthy communities, and a hope for them.
• It was a huge kick in the butt for me: no, I do not need to run up to the woods to build my own house and make my own clothes in order to rightly relate to nature and my neighbors in true community. Even though New York City seems like the last likely alternative (and, in fact, seems like the exact opposite!) maybe I need to learn that God is not a respecter of geography (rural vs. urban) when it comes to his desire to see his creatures living together in right relationship. He was the one who told the Jews held captive in Babylon to transform the city they were living in despite their circumstances for being there: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Have families and connect your families; build community; increase. (Jeremiah 29:4-7)

Reflections from Tuesday, May 9, 2006

As an Aside:

I wish we had started this Blog from the beginning! I desire to keep a record of our discussions together as well as providing a place to virtually continue this dialogue while physically apart! I hope to post details of past discussions in the near future.

Reflections on our conversation, Tuesday, May 9, 2006:

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth."

Saint Augustine wrote in his Confessions:

• I asked the earth and it answered me, 'I am not He.' And whatsoever things are in it confirmed the same. I asked the sea and the deeps and the living creeping things, and they answered, 'We are not thy God, seek above us.' I asked the morning air, and the whole air with its inhabitants answered, '...we are not thy God.' I asked the heavens, sun, moon, stars, 'Nor' say they, 'are we the God whom thou seekest.' And I replied unto all the things which encompass the door of my flesh, 'Ye have told me of my Go that ye are not He: tell me something more of Him.' And they cried out with a loud voice, 'He made us.'

We spent much time discussing our (humanity's) place in creation. The word "creature" is from the same root word as "create." We are part of creation, yet hold a very special place within the creation.

Millard J. Erickson's in his opus, Christian Theology says:

• While God did not have to create, he did so for good and sufficient reasons. He had a purpose in bringing reality into being. And the creation fulfills that purpose of God. In particular, the creation glorifies God by carrying out his will. The inanimate creation glorifies him (Psalm 19:1-4); the animate creatures obey his plan for them. In the story of Jonah, we see this in rather vivid fashion. Everyone and everything (except Jonah) obeyed God's will and plan: the storm, the dice, the sailors, the great fish, the Ninevites, the east wind, the gourd, and the worm. Each part of creation is capable of fulfilling God's purposes for it, but each obeys in a different way. The inanimate creation does so mechanically, obeying natural laws which govern the physical world. The animate creation does so instinctively, responding to impulses within. Man alone is capable of obeying God consciously and willingly, and thus glorifies God most fully. p. 373
  

We bear a special place within creation for we were created Imago Dei, in the Image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). More than that, as the chorus of the song we listened to declares, "You are fearfully, wondrously, gloriously, lovingly made." God knows us personally, completely, and intimately (Psalm 139:13-16).

How can that be??? As we reflect upon the immensity of creation, we declare along with Calvin:
"I'M SIGNIFICANT! ....screamed the dust speck." - Calvin and Hobbes

In the words of the Psalmist: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is humanity that you are mindful of us, the human beings that you care for us?" (Psalm 8:3-4). Creation is so vast, what are we that the Creator is mindful of us - mere specks of dust dwelling upon a speck of dust?

However, we the creatures - no matter how insignificant we might consider ourselves -have been invited to join the Creator in the process of RECREATION! Humanity is not broken and in need of a repair - humanity is dead and in need of a resurrection (recreation). We fervently believe that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). THIS is the very message and ministry which we have been given (read 2 Corinthians 5:17-20)! We are His ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us!

So we join Him in bringing life from death. Wholeness from brokenness. Dancing where there was once mouring. We let our "light shine before men, that they may see [our] good deeds and praise [our] Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Our role as creatures and as His ambassadors is to see, "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

When we join in with Him in His recreative activity, people will notice. As lives are changed by His power, as we stand against injustice, and we offer hope to the hopeless, as we feed the hungry and clothe the naked, as we restore creation to it's intended design (recreating it to reflect "His will being done") our light will shine before men and we might point beyond ourselves to the Creator who desires to recreate all men and women through a new birth (John 3:3).

Moreover, as we creatures are reconnected with our Creator, we a freed and liberated to become what we were truly meant to be (His will being done in our lives, becoming who He made and designed us to be).

God is inherently creative - He paints every sunset, He molded the giraffe, elephant, and platypus, He designed the intricacies of the atom. Becoming reconnected to Him should liberate and inspire us to greater feats of creativity! We are connecting to Him who at the very core of His being is creative. The creator must be the ultimate creative! We best reflect Him when we are creative as well!

Other verses for consideration:
1 Corinthians 8:6, Genesis 1:1, Psalm 96:5, Isaiah 37:16, 44:24, 45:12, Jeremiah 10:11-12, Romans 2:12-16

OK, OK, enough already! PLEASE, Your thoughts...

Looking Back...Why we're here. What we're doing

Communal Sermon Writing

In the contemporary church, the Pastor brings the sermon. He is charged with communicating the truth of God through the medium of thought, word, and idea. We seek to write a new type of "sermon." We desire to communicate the eternal truth of God not solely through the medium of thought, word, and idea, but also through dance, movement, art, image, sound, smell, etc. We desire to create sermons that are not only heard but also seen, felt, smelt, touched, and experienced.

Further, the sermon will not be written by one person, but by a community of believers. We engage in an ongoing spiritual dialogue. Each one of us has been filled by the Spirit of the living God and granted a variety of different gifts and talents. As a community we seek to each bring our piece of the "sermon" for mutual edification, challenge, and encouragement.

As an aside, does that mean we would neglect the spoken word? Never! It remains a vital element of our "sermon," but not the ONLY element of our collective sermon.

Themes

Instead of choosing a weekly theme, we have a monthly theme. For example, March 2006 was about "I Believe" and we spent the entire month exploring all the varied dimensions of belief (faith, trust, doubt, risk, fear, the object of your faith, etc.). Our gifted and spirit filled community has always produced more than enough creative expressions to fill our time together.

It has provided us ample opportunity to explore the depth of God's truth utilizing a broadness of expression and method that has prevented it from ever feeling repetitive or dull. And after a month of seeking God individually and corporately in an effort to understand and express these truths, we all possess a deeper and richer understanding - far greater than what we might have obtained simply listening to one 30 minute lecture!

Further, spending a month on just one theme allows us to build upon one another's thoughts and reflections. For example, it might be that the first week someone would show up with a half finished song regarding that month's theme. They play what they have written and it might stir someone to offer a lyric or verse to the song. Or maybe someone adds a harmony. Or maybe the song might contain an idea that needs clarification or entails a further discussion - leading to a deeper understanding of that month's truth.

Imagine the artist shows up the second week with a half finished painting. However, as the group sings together, inspiration strikes and she takes up the brush and paints her worship to God as the music continues. Further the unfinished work itself inspires questions of the artist and of the theme, and takes the artist in a new direction as she finishes her work later that week. Community based creativity and creations!

Or imagine that all of us show up with a half finished thoughts and ideas about the month's theme. We bring together all of our broken fragments and arrange them into a magnificent mosaic of thought, beauty, and understanding.

Further, having a month on the same theme means that someone may show up at the first gathering of the month and be inspired by something he has seen, heard, or experienced. Then she may go home and create something related to that month's theme, which she will be able to bring to one of the following gatherings. It allows us to be challenged by and to build upon one another's interpretations, thus being inspired to deeper reflection and more profound expression.

Our Structure

Most are familiar with the Apostles' Creed:

• I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
• I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
• He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell.
• The third day he rose again from the dead.
• He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
• From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
• I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
  

The Apostles' Creed is our structure. Each month we focus upon one phrase of the Apostles' Creed. For example, March 2006 we reflected upon the phrase "I believe" and in April 2006 we dialogued about "God the Father Almighty." May 2006 we turn our attention to the phrase, "Maker of Heaven and Earth." As I said earlier, we spend the month exploring the depth of what each phrase means. It has proven a simple structure that is thematically leading us through the central tenets of the Christian faith.