I dreamt of Worship

In the dream I was leading a class on prayer, in a small stone room off the chapel at Rollins. As I was organizing my class and arranging the prayer requests, Dean Wettstein came in through a side door followed by a Mathematics professor. They put some music on and began preparing the room for a math class by rearranging the chairs while we stood. Guitar and piano filled the air in a somewhat classical arrangement, and yet we could all recognize the melody and each of us had words of praise to sing along.

With my earth hands and mind, I felt the urge to hold on to my class and organize them. I looked at Dean Wettstein to see why he was bringing a math class into the room while a prayer group was going on and he just smiled. The professor brought his students in and they sat at desks in a circle while we crowded the floor standing and calling out our names and the names of those who had asked for prayer, above the sound of the music. There was no jockeying for position or trying to be heard, there was somehow deep communion going on between the people working and the people praying. If an earthling had planned it, it would have been a disaster of unmet needs but it was all unison and harmony at the same time. There was no chaos or din, only the intertwining sounds of math and music, prayer and praise.

Even More Time

Clare e-mailed me thatI was wrong about when Advent begins. I was just counting back from Xmas Eve, but lo and behold, she's right, Advent begins next week. So hurray! I have one more week to work on my lessons and carols devotion, which I sorely needed. The first one is about sin and I'm not really enjoying it much.

So when December starts here is a great online advent calendar that is fun for the whole family and has some of my favorite Advent hymns -- it begins with 'On Jordan's Bank' and so do I.


On Jordan's Bank that Baptist Cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh.
Awake and Hearken for he brings
Glad tidings of the King of Kings!

Yahoo Dory, Welcome Christmas Everyone

On this first Sunday in Advent, the wreath is up, the first purple candle lit and the season begun. For me the Lessons and the Carols is the most powerful devotion to the season. The service itself is a tradition begun in 1880 and revived by Eric Milner-White. In 1918 at the age of 34 Milner-White was appointed Dean of King's College Cambridge Chapel and devised the service because he thought the Church of England was in need of more imaginative worship. So I love it for that, that in 1918 there were already rebels wanting more imaginative and creative worship. But I love it for its purpose -- to use nine lessons from scripture, beginning with Genesis, to develop the main theme of 'the loving purposes of God.'

So I'll spend my Advent season this year, as if in one long service of lessons and carols, taking in the lessons, listening to the Word, developing the theme through theology and poetry, and responding in song and prayer and praise.

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST.
By Robert Southwell


BEHOLD: the father is his daughter’s son:
The bird that built the nest, is hatched therein:
The old of years, an hour hath not outrun:
Eternal life, to live doth now begin.
The Word is dumb: the mirth of heaven doth weep:
Might feeble is: and force doth faintly creep.

O dying souls, behold your living Spring:
O dazzled eyes, behold your Son of Grace:
Dull ears, attend what word this Word doth bring:
Up, heavy hearts: with joy your joy embrace.
From death, from dark, from deafness, from despairs:
This life, this light, this Word, this joy repairs.

Gift better than Himself, God doth not know:
Gift better than his God, no man can see:
This gift doth here the giver Given bestow:
Gift to this gift let each receiver be.
God is my gift, Himself he freely gave me:
God’s gift am I, and none but God shall have me.

Man altered was by sin from man to beast:
Beasts’ food is hay, hay is all mortal flesh:
Now God is flesh, and lies in Manger pressed
As hay, the brutest sinner to refresh.
O happy field wherein this fodder grew,
Whose taste doth us from beasts to men renew.

Life as a House

Just saturated myself in one of the best Christian movies of all times,
Life as a House. It has foundation, baptism, rock vs. sand,repentance,sin, forgiveness, atonement, restoration, tearing down, building up,and sacrifice.

It's highly likely that it wasn't by a Christian writer or filmmaker because it showed sin as sin which is truly sad and grody. Nonetheless the film was sacrificial and deeply satisfying.

The story referenced sins of the father & pain in the main character's
past which is what most movies of this type do. When someone is a
miserable cuss, usually it's because something terrible was inflicted
on them by someone horrible & healing comes when they rid
themselves of that terrible event. What was such great theology to me
was that Kevin Kline's character was not trying to destroy his past in
order to move on, rather he was trying to rectify his present and leave
something for the future. Certainly he talks about the sins committed
against him but more than that he talks about his choice to live in the
grip of that sin for so long. It's his choice, not the choice of his
father, which makes him miserable and it will be his choice to rebuild
his life and offer hope to his own son. Who may or may not receive
hope. All this father can do is leave an environment for a future and a
hope.

We've had this movie in our inbox from Netflix for some
time, and it's been out longer than that. I'm so glad I finally made
space to see it. I'll watch it again and again.

It is very interesting to me that I'm not much interested in Christmas this year.
I'm usually writing Advent devotions starting in August and I just
couldn't get myself motivated. So I have no devotions for us this
season...yet. I have something I've wanted to work on regarding the
Advent season for quite some time and I hope I'll get interested in it.


I'm really looking towards Lent and Easter this Church year.
Which is probably why I like Life as a House so much. It's really an
Easter Film.

Advent is a time to prepare, a time to look forward while also a time to recall something so miraculous and so precious. Easter is a time to release from a past event which is both terrible and miraculous. A time not to think fondly of the entrance of Christ, but to grieve the sin and death that caused his death. At
Christmas we receive something we can grasp -- a baby. At Easter we step into something we can't grasp --rebirth.

Half-heard

There is something about poetry that I don't understand. I almost never like it when I read it or try to pick out a book of poems myself. It's only when someone else shares it with me, somehow then from within the context of their lives, I get it. And then I really get it.
Maureen shared this one with the thought that someone out there needed it and I'm certain I'm on that list. I don't know Maureen but from what she has chosen to share about the context of her life suddenly this piece is alive and deep and running like water through my hands and it makes sense to the context of my life.


Excerpt from Little Gidding (No. 4 of Four Quartets) from stanza IV
by T.S. Eliot

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heart, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

For the director of music. For flutes.

A Psalm of David

In the morning, O Lord, you
hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my
requests before you
and wait in expectation.
Psalm 5, verse 3

What's Your Story?

O Christmas Blend, O Christmas Blend

I love the Christmas blend and I arrived this morning at a coffee shoppe (which shall remain nameless for the purpose of this story) to find that 'tis already the season. So I partook of a steaming mug and a Cranberry Bliss Bar. The very, very young lady at the counter said to me, "Oh, is that good?"
To which I said, "The Cranberry Bliss bar? It's a classic here at this store."
I could see her manager beginning to twitch in the background.
"Oh," she said, "I've never tried one."
"Have you never experienced the Holiday events here?" I asked.
"No, I'm new here and I didn't really come here before."
Now the manager was in full out spasms but trying to let the young lady handle it herself, possibly to redeem herself. Which sadly, she did not do.
I advised her to try a bar and she said, "Yeah, maybe I will."
The manager finally piped up, "Sorry about that, she's stoned."

I laughed very hard at this because in this situation, it seemed to the manager, that it would be far better for the employee to be at work under the influence of an illegal substance than for her not to know what a Cranberry Bliss bar was.

And in this branded moment, it was almost true.

Because my friends, this store does not sell coffee or pastries. It sells warmth. All in the packaging of coffee and pastries.

During the winter of my discontent ('03 for those of you counting) I went into this same shop and had my first Gingerbread latte of the season and it brought tears to my eyes. No, really. I actually cried. The flavor of something familiar, the smell of something homey and warm, transported me to all the Christmases and all the gingerbread I've ever had and it warmed me.

So what do you sell? Or in the case of us non-profits, what do you offer?
What is your story, expressed through your product or your classes or your shows or your programs or your writing?

serious addiction

Visited one of the sites on the Third Day Blogroll, Creative Process and I really like her style. Her work is mostly collage w/ paper for scrapbooks and I just wanted to cover a wall in it, then she linked to another artist who works in material and does purses. Her name is Autum and you can see a gallery of the custom work she's done on her blog. I have a serious addiction to purses so naturally I got a bit woozy looking at her work, especially the brown & pink purses.

This Chapter: Hope for the racers

In which Marklee discovers that creating art is kin to running a race. While pounding the keys in service of the national novel writing challenge for November, Mark makes this excellent analogy.

If there's a 10K in town, people come out
in droves, even though 99.9% of them know that they will not be
competing for first place. In many races I've been involved in, the
winner has already finished the race before many have even crossed the
starting line. With absolutely no chance of winning, why do people
still participate? To reach a personal goal, to brag to their friends
that they did it, and for the unexpected rewards you get from being a
part of something bigger than yourself.

I have to agree that the rewards of doing are far greater than the rewards of the
prduced work. Everyone can participate in the doing of art. For a
period of a year, a terribly confusing year, I created collages and
painted. I've always maintained that I'm terrible with my hands and
have no talent for the fine arts, but I did this to restore my sense of
self. And now I have a book full of artwork that represents the time
and the transformation. None of you will ever see it because it's not
great art in the sense that it isn't to be displayed. In the visual
arts category, I won't be one of the ones interviewed for my time, I'll
be one of the many people running that started with no chance of
winning and no thought of it either.

But for me and those who love me and cheered me on and dumped Gatorade on my head, my book of collages means something. And it was worth doing and I'm proud of the art and the time I spent on it.

One more bloggy thing

The purpose of links for me is that I like to see what other people link to; it's fun to see who is related to what & what resources are connected to whom. So I've kept my links because they are links to what I read or people I love or thoughts that inspire and motivate me.

I have added the Third Day Blogroll just for fun. The blogroll changes, rolling over a new list of bloggers daily. All the blogs listed have joined the Third Day Blogroll for their own reasons, so I have no idea who they are and don't recommend or endorse them. I'm just interested in being connected and this seemed like a fun way to have some connection to a community outside my own.

Happy Christmas

Here's the best gift for the Potter fans in your family for Xmas. Also plus too, I recommend Janet's book for all the writerly types. Her focus on set-ups and pay-offs has been immeasurably helpful to me in my own writing and in my consulting with writers. I'm getting my copy today!

Yikes

So, I did it. I upgraded. Which means a momentary loss, I hope, of web counter & haloscan comments. I hope they'll come back. It just made me sick to press the button in red that said, "You can't go back." Anyway, hopefully all we be restored or at least moved on into the future.

2 fun

Sites for you to browse.

Yesterday I had coffee with my friend Vernon and I talked at him for 2 hours about Church and churches and churchiness, and how my son Henry likes to preach. Henry's sermon goes like this: "Jesus is God, all the time!"

So here's a site for coffee that Vernon is related to: http://www.storyville.com. If you want to buy coffee you can buy coffee and if you want to talk to Vernon's relatives, buy coffee and Claire will sell it to you.

Then I browsed into this sassy helpfulness and checked with the Loydster, who had heard of them, so I recommend churchmarketingsucks.com to you based on my quick glance their way and my hours of talking churchiness with two of my favorite church members, Loyd & Vernon.

Forgiveness

I have been looking for this for months, wanting to post it, really for myself. I quote Peter Lord's definition of forgiveness all the time, but most often incorrectly. So I wanted it to be somewhere that I can go to and reference it often. When I need to I place names into the definition, rinse and repeat.

So here is what Peter Lord told the '01 Florida Christian Writer's Conference:

Forgiveness is
My choice to personally bear the consequences of your choice, and never again hold you responsible for the things you did to hurt me or those I love or care for.

Connecting message

In January of 2001 I wrote this title and subheadings in preparation for a talk I was to give:
The Art of Engagement: connecting your message with your audience.
The art
of connection
of technology
of worship
of drama
of silence
of body
of voice
of writing
of listening
of revealing

The Halloween Story

A few weeks before Halloween Henry came to us and said, “We’re gonna have a Halloween party.”

We were a bit taken aback because Henry’s autism is most apparent in his expressive language. We have two languages you know, expressive and receptive. He receives information very well…too well if you want to know. However, his expressive language is all mixed wires. He rarely converses in past or future tense. He simply can’t seem to either understand or express what happened yesterday, as yesterday. If you ask him what he did (this morning, in school, last year, yesterday) he answers with what he is doing. Or he politely says, “Yes.” The same is true for future tense, although he has more success with the future than with the past.

So we answered right away. “Well, what are we going to do at this party?”

“At the Halloween party we will go to Mimi & Granddad’s, go trick or treating, get in the swimming pool and the spa, have a picnic food outside, and watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

Well, anytime Henry uses appropriate language we pretty much do whatever he says. And besides, this sounded like a fun party. So we asked who would be invited.

“Henry Bass will be the blue SPD Power Ranger, Mommy is gonna be Marge Simpson, Granddad is gonna be the Cat in the Hat, Dad is gonna be Matthew Fox, and Mimi is gonna be Conan O’Brian.”

When we asked him several days later the guest list and their costumes he said the same thing. When we went to my parent’s house we asked him to tell them about the party and then about their costumes; he repeated the same plans. This meant this was his plan, not random, ever changing ideas.

This sent us into a several day search for a blue SPD power ranger costume & blue hair spray for me. After a few costume dramas all was acquired, including an old beat up Cat in the Hat hat for my dad. We went to their house, took pictures, went trick or treating…well, you have the itinerary and the guest list. We had a really great time and Henry was very pleased with his party plans and how well they turned out. As soon as we figure out how to get the pictures out of the camera (I’m betting Easter) I’ll be sure to post them. Both Henry & I were particularly pleased with my Marge Simpson costume which involved a neon green t-shirt from the Rhonda Day collection and my own hair (no wig work, Joel) in a beehive sprayed blue.

There was a lot of wondering about his choices for our costumes. He was very set & very certain as to the casting. I was pretty sure I’d figured it out, since it seemed perfect casting from Henry’s POV:
Granddad – reads stories to him, especially at bedtime if the grandparents are babysitting.
Me – well, I’m Mom & Marge is Mom.
Dad – the leading man/hero archetype, of course.
and
Mimi – the perfect host.

changes upcoming

Over the next few days (which probably means weeks in the Alice time
zone) I'll be changing over my blog to the new Blogger in beta format. This means a new layout & design. Maybe, don't know. Apparently, once you try one of the new layouts, your old one is gone.

I've already changed to beta & added a google account. If you want to e-mail me, you are now able to at my gmail account which you can find by clicking onto my profile. Already some odd things have changed & I'm dealing with the new way of posting, but I'm trying to accept these new trends & technologies and go w/ the Blogger recommended flow. Still don't have an ipod though. Don't care for the text messaging. Myspace freaks me out. Don't know what bluetooth is or how to use it, though I know I have it. Wish the neighbor would get her kid off my lawn. Can't get the digital pictures out of my camera into a computer or any sort of print medium that would make it suitable for framing. Have never instant messanged anyone (and don't any of you people try that nonsense with me.)

I feel like I'm a hundred years old.

The Word

Moving on from the book of John, a verse by verse meditation, I have
arrived at Galatians. I felt led to start there because I had a flash
memory of the great theologian Richard Pratt who once told me how to find it: GE Power Company (Galatians, Ephesians,Philippians, Colossians ) or Go Everywhere Preaching Christ(he added as an afterthought.) So I thought I'd pray my way through those four books, along with going back to the Psalms. So this week I was in Galatians 1 & 2 & Psalm 1 & 2.

There is always a surprise when I pray one or two verses at a time. Especially verses I'm very familiar with. In Galatians here's the familiar one: 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."

Which is where I stopped on Monday. Here was the surprising and fulfilling verse previously hidden to me in 2:20b which was prayed on Tuesday:
"The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."