Without knowing anything else about Paulie Gee, I would venture to guess that this is his way of responding to a vocation – that is, a call. I know vocation is not always so clear for many of us, and certainly, many in the world cannot even begin to entertain options because of forces beyond their control and capacity. But nevertheless, I believe that God calls each and every one of us towards certain loves, suffering and work. And I would almost never separate those three. Cause making pizza, at least good pizza, requires it.
In my own discernment of vocation, I’ll just say this. Though I’ve been a pastor for the past decade, the kind of pastor I’ve wanted to be has changed dramatically through the years. That is to say, my sense of vocation within the pastorate has evolved, transformed, maybe even matured over time. This frustrates me in the sense that vocation is not a destination to arrive at but a process to submit to and discern along the way. It also frees me (in light of the previous post) to not have to arrive at all.
If you want a good, quick, contemplative read on vocation, I highly recommend, Parker Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak.
This little meditation was sent to me by Jose Humphreys, a Covenant pastor who’s doing some very good work in Harlem. I love this brother.
And I would very much like someone to read this to me every morning before I get up and give Luca, my daughter, her milk:
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way
to something unknown,
something new.
Yet it is the law of all progress that is made
by passing through some stages of instability
and that may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually. Let them grow.
Let them shape themselves without undue haste.
Do not try to force them on
as though you could be today what time
— that is to say, grace –
and circumstances
acting on your own good will
will make you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new Spirit
gradually forming in you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Above all, trust in the slow work of God,
our loving vine-dresser.
Amen.
“Where are you?” This is the first question asked of man by God, found in Genesis 3. It’s a powerfully searching question for every man, woman, child. It’s also the beginning of spirituality.
In thinking through my own spirituality, I find that I’m deeply tempted to use spirituality to fill something deep within. The key word there is “fill”. Reading the account of the woman at the well recently has given me something to think about. She attempts to showcase a personal spirituality before this rabbi by talking about the center of religion in terms of physical location. As it was in the garden, so it is with the Samaritan woman – spirituality is not essentially about specifics of locality. It is about “withness” with God, or covenant relationship with God. Starting with anything else may lead us to a vacant mountain top experience.
Authentic spirituality admits that we’re not necessarily going to be fixed in this lifetime. But it maintains the faithfulness of God come to us in Jesus who entered into our darkness and confusion. And this God doesn’t demand that we get it together for ourselves.
Instead, he leads us to worship.
We are, consequently, left to consider that an encounter with Jesus will not change our circumstances as much as lead us to worship in the midst of them, whatever they may be. Don’t get him wrong – he comes so that we change. Our circumstances may stay the same. But we change. And hope springs from within where things cannot be stolen.
Eric Shepherd, our music and liturgy guy, led us in a new song this past gathering that included the line: trampling death by death. It’s out of a John “Golden Mouthed” Chrysostom sermon.
In my mind, it qualifies as a four word summation of the gospel if I’ve ever heard one. Jesus tramples death by dying on the cross. His light cannot be overcome by death, and as a result, death has been converted from a dead end into a door to life.
I’m beginning to think that many who have flirted with death and his cousins (suffering, loss, brokenness, depression, rejection, failure, etc.) have a deeper awareness that death is not what it seems from where most of us stand protected and “safe.” Why is it that those who are nearest to the broken have a story themselves? My guess and hope is that they’ve seen death for what it now really is.
Here’s one such example. I highly recommend it. Watch the video halfway down the page.
I’m not sure why, but this video moved me to tears. Granted, I’m an easy cry, but this one caught me off guard. The vulnerability and dependence of the children as they are being held so high in the air struck a deep chord in me. It’s also a picture of how the weakest among us are also to be supported and esteemed. Having said that, this event is pretty crazy. Why do Spaniards insist on life threatening sport (running of the bulls, bullfighting)?
I’ve recently been asked several times for movie recommendations. When in the mood, which is quite often, there is nothing that can speak to my soul like a well made movie. Here’s a list of movies I’ve seen in the past year that have made me think and that I can heartily recommend to you. Warning: some of these titles are not kid friendly, dream friendly, can be offensive to some and even offensive to all. I’ll try and make note of it. A good deal of them are foreign.
Departures: Japan. Moving.
The Secret In Their Eyes: Argentina. Disturbing scene of rape. A story of vengeance and forgiveness. One of the best movies I seen – ever.
The Square: Film noir. Australia. Really well done, nail biter to the very end.
The Road: Post apocalypse America. Story of father and son and survival. Another favorite.
Memories of Murder: Korea. Murder mystery. The characters are so memorable. Based on a true story. I love this movie!
Unbreakable: Bruce Willis. Samuel L. Jackson. Top 10.
Looking at this list, I realize I have a penchant for dark movies. Huh. By the way, I took the photo of the Ghostbusters wagon in Park Slope. Another classic.
Here’s a brilliant video (the RSA videos are all very cool) on the modern state of public education. There’s a bitter pill of truth in this video. I love my teachers and, for the most part, administrators. But truth be told, we need to know, as we do of our families of origin, the roots of our education systems. What are the underlying assumptions, expectations, practices, traditions and values? And do you want to be a bearer of that blessing or curse? This video helps you decide. I’ve shown my hand from the title of the post. As my good friend Eric Shepherd says (not verbatim), “Kids naturally love to learn. Then they go to school and that love goes away.”
We wear clothes as best we can. What I mean is that unless you have your clothing made to measure (something I’ve tried in the way of a bespoke suit from Hong Kong – but that’s another post), you’re pretty much wearing a dress form’s clothes – the averaged size within your size. Occasionally, we’ll find something that seems like it was made just for us – the joy! For some, that happens more often than not. I’m in the other category (hence my adventures with Hong Kong suit makers.)
I feel the same way about spirituality. For a long time, and even now to some degree, I feel like I’m trying on other people’s spirituality. It seems evangelical Christianity is just starting to take note that one size does not fit all. If that goes for clothing, how are we to assume otherwise for spirituality, spiritual practices, spiritual rules of life, and so on? How long have you been wearing someone else’s clothes? How long have you been wearing no clothes at all in protest? Too tight a jacket, and you’re barely able to enjoy dinner. Too loose the waist on your skirt, and the dance floor is a nightmare waiting to unfold. Read more…
So I took the MBTI personality test for what seems the eight or ninth time and I came up as a INFP again. I’m not even close to being something else anymore (which used to be the case). I’m not sure how to interpret that.
I think these personality categories are valuable in a few ways:
1. They give you words for things you may have known about yourself but was never able to articulate. Naming it gives you opportunity to accept or reject, and you can go from there.
2. A step towards self awareness is the first true step away from self centeredness.
3. Sometimes, you just want to give someone a quick, even if incomplete, picture of what’s going on inside your bone helmet. It can help the conversation goes places quicker, deeper. But you risk stereotypes, blah, blah, blue….
4. It’s fun to stereotype types when it comes to personalities.
There is a war on the scale of WW 2 raging right now. But the word “war” may not be accurate – it’s more slaughter or genocide. And for some reason, there is a dearth of coverage given to it. I’m talking, of course, about the civil war in eastern Congo. What’s that? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, maybe you’ve heard of Rwanda – or seen the movie Hotel Rwanda. What’s happening to the people of eastern Congo makes Rwanda a paper cut in comparison. That’s how bad it is. The Hutu militias responsible for much of the more recent violence (killings, rape, slavery, mutilation, etc) are from Rwanda. This is basically a continuation of the genocide from several years ago. Read more…
