A New Beginning

I have found that my blogging is a lot like my walk of faith. I have great expectations but then I find that I can't fulfill those expectations so I fade back into my "muck and mire" of life and not move on. I find that instead of pressing in to God and my faith, I want to be lazy and do nothing, much like my desire to blog. That is why I am at a "New Beginning".

I have discovered that it isn't the expectations that God looks to meet me at but my willingness to be open to Him and to relate to Him. It is about me being what God has for me through Christ, not how I envision myself to be. When I can move that from my head to my heart, it will be an amazing relief of a weight from my shoulders.

I am not saying it doesn't take work, but when I understand that God is moving with me, the work seems lighter. That is why I don't understand Anne Rice's recent revelation that she is "quiting" Christianity. How do you quit a journey, a walk? Although I have not personally talked with Anne, but only heard interviews, it seems that Christianity isn't the "right fit" for her and she doesn't want to be "boxed" into a certain "religion".

I hear those words and I can relate because I have used that excuse as well when I have felt like staying in my mire and not changing. It sometimes easier to stay in the "crap" of life that we feel comfortable and secure in, instead of venturing out to freedom of life that we have no experience in at all. As Americans, we feel that if something is too hard or changes us too much, then we have the right to stop if we want. To stay in our comfort zone.

That is not what our journey with Christ is at all. As a "Modern Wondering Monk", I continue to look at the disciplines of the early Celtic monastics and see how it helped to develop them in Christ. The life and discipline that they accepted was not easy, but the gain was eternal. They did not ask if it was convenient but did it draw them closer to God. That is what I desire and try to work out each day.

That is what I am going to begin to blog about going forward. What are those disciplines that I believe are very relevant to a 21st century "monk" or person on their journey. It might sound weird, but I also believe that the church is also being called to be more "spiritually disciplined", possibly using some of the items that I will be blogging about in the future.

But for right now, I begin with myself. I am a sinner, on a journey with Christ. It is a journey that is hard, and difficult at points but I know it has eternal gain. I could never "quit" the journey, because it could cost me my life.

A Call to Community not Church

There are certain books that can make you rethink our way of living and ministry. Outside of the radicalness of the Bible, there are probably only a hand full of books that I have read that have made me rethink life. Brian McLaren does that in his book Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices.

I need to preface this by stating that I have been studying, reading and doing other writing on early church monasticism, Celtic spirituality and Rules of Life for the past seveal years. This book took those concepts that I had been reading, studying and grappling with and made me decide what I would do with them in my life and in my ministry. The book and McLaren throws you off of the bench and into the match, whether you want to be there or not. It is up to you to decide what you do once you find yourself in the match.

McLaren's premise revolves around the ancient practices of the Christian church, and some found in the traditions of the Jewish and Muslim people, and how they can play a part in our lives today. In the ancient world, order and commitment to others rather than oneself was normal. Whether through work as a slave to a land owner, as landowner to the king, the religious to the church, individual lives were looked at in terms of community and not selfishness.

The thought of controlling our own lives and living how we want is a very Western and 19th/20th century mindset, especially in the United States. This is evident in how we live our lives today. Our calendars today are based on meeting our desires, wants and not on the communities needs. Our spiritual life reflects this in our lack of commitment to church and its mission to a hurting world.

McLaren takes the time to reintroduce ancient practices that the church and its members should consider. The church is often looking for the "New Thing" to get people to attend to their services, however, it is not what the world is desiring. The desire is to find refuge, healing, wholeness and acceptance while experiencing the transcendent in a mysterious and real way in their lives. The church is on the brink of deciding to be an "Event Church" or instead become a "Church that Lives". That is the what McLaren tries to put in front of us.

If the church decides to be the later, then we need to take up new/ancient practices to help us live and minister. The book provides various overviews of practices that can be placed in three categories, Via Contemplative (Upward Journey), Via Communitiva (Not me but we) and Via Activa (Outward Journey). It is a combination of these three "Vias" or "ways" that we can regain our spiritual nourishment and provide the world with what it craves.

This is a must read for anyone who are in ministry or serious about living as a follower of Christ. It has revolutionized my thinking in many areas. It begins with simple things as to looking at our place of worship not as a "church" but as a "community" and calling it a community to rethinking ministry and what that means, looks like and operates. The book has actually activated the creativity to break out of the modern/safe church model and become the radial that God created us to be.

The church and its people for too long has been "Cultural" as opposed to being "Counter-Cultural". If you are open and honest with this book, you will have to sit down and rethink your life and ministry.

I have to be truthful in letting you know that I have started and stopped this blog several times. It has been the albatross around my neck as I have tried to put out my thoughts, visions and feelings on different topics. I have needed a place to express what I have going on in my head.

When I was young, I would spend days imagining and dreaming of different things. They would range from a baseball league of my stuffed animals with custom made uniforms made from brown paper bags, to a world of fun and enjoyment on my grandparents’ farm in Ohio. Creativity has always poured through my veins. However, it has only been recently that I have accepted this gift.

Much of my life has been cast in the shadow of doubt and defeat. It has been a place where what I did, in my own eyes, was not good enough. This became the one hundred pound object that would continually weigh be down. It infected my entire life and caused me to begin to live in an imaginary and unreal "worlds".

Why do I tell you all of this? It is to let you know where I have come from and what is behind some of my writings that will appear on this blog. You will see the themes of faith, family and community will appear regularly. These are three themes that people long for and grapple with on a regular basis.

I want to thank you for reading and participating in this writing experiment. I look forward to hearing from you all.