What We Talk About When We Talk About God {VIDEO}

Earlier tonight I tuned into a live speaking engagement from Rob Bell, discussing his newest book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God.  It's brilliant and refreshing and much needed in a faithless landscape, filled with boxes and black and white thought - both inside and outside of anything resembling "church."

I encourage you to take the time and watch this!


Video streaming by Ustream

Peace,
Ross

Consistency.

Consistency matters.
It matters because without it, what you say (and do) means nothing.
If you say one thing, and do another, you're a hypocrite.
If you advocate for a policy, and vote against it, you can't be trusted.
And all too often, consistency can't be felt, seen, or heard.

Specific to politics and faith, I find an increasingly inconsistent pattern among right-wing-voting-christians (which is how the majority of christians vote - Republican).  This inconsistency is branded across the Church and perception becomes reality - that christians are either ill-informed, can't make a consistent and intelligent argument, or are just plain hypocritical.

On one hand, christians will overwhelmingly support other christians in politics (usually right-wing), so that politics resemble the ways of Jesus, biblical truths, etc.  They believe that electing more christians will make our nation christian once again (essentially that christian leaders will enact christian laws).

And most christians will also agree that Jesus came to earth, and lived his life to show grace and mercy to those that didn't deserve it (i.e. sinners, the sick, etc.), and that he came first for the marginalized, the poor, the blind, and "the least of these." 

However, when the government enacts policies and social programs that extend similar grace and mercy to the least of these, christians overwhelmingly call them "entitlements" and say that the government has no business in these matters.  So either the government is or isn't in the position to act and dispense policy, based on the christian faith.  They cannot have it both ways, because consistency matters.

In the same light, liberals (which most overwhelmingly support our President, and democrats) cannot remain consistent in their anti-gun/violence messages, while also remaining silent when the government is using drones attacks at an alarming rate and when our policies place assault rifles into the hands of Mexican drug lords.  The liberal message of non-violence has no backbone.

My point is this...there must be a true separation between church and state.  This is a good thing.  Because when the perceived "christian" candidate on one hand argues for life in repealing abortion rights, yet funds the military and supports capital punishment on the other, there is no consistency.  Likewise, when a liberal fights to pass laws that control the sales of arms (to "save even one life"), but systematically places these same weapons into the hands of Mexican drug lords, there is no consistency.  In both scenarios, I believe that arguing for life and saving life most closely represents the way of Jesus.  And in both scenarios the politics of the state become the voice of the church - either in support or criticism.  By separating faith and politics, the United States is not the mouthpiece of Christianity; and when it behaves in less than Christ-like manners, one is not co-opted by the other, and consistency is not in question.

Because no matter which side you find yourself, consistency is lacking - and when left unchecked, both sides become impotent to truth-telling and agenda.  Consistency matters because without we nullify any resemblance of intellectual honesty and debate.  And without consistency, we all become hypocrites.

Peace,
Ross

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild is an upcoming film (hopefully coming to a city and theatre near you), that portrays a humanity and creation of connectedness.  The film shows that there's an underlying spirituality to everything that connects us all - land, water, animals, men, and women.  The film looks beautiful and adds an element of childlike fantasy, that I hope will resonate with many!  Check it out...



Peace,
Ross

Contemplative Prayer (PART VII - The End)

Contemplative prayer is a powerful tool that leads to a lifestyle of stability and interruption that are vital to our lives as followers of Christ.  Contemplative prayer exposes our selfish wants and desires, and moves us toward an understanding that simply being with God is more than enough.  Contemplative prayer is antithetical to the ways of our culture: hyper-creation, productivity, entertainment, and consumerism.  Contemplative prayer solidifies our identities to Christ, and makes everything spiritual, holy, and potentially good. 

As we continue our journeys, I hope that we will make this a priority.  I hope that you have been encouraged by the truths of scripture, the example of Jesus and the early Church, and the hope of an aligned future with our Creator.  Please strive to live life “in the river.”  God is doing incredible things in this world and we must have hope to reclaim the essence of being with and seeing God face to face, through contemplative prayer.

________________________________

Thanks so very much for reading this series.  I hope its provided some insights and will help you in your journey.

Peace,
Ross

Contemplative Prayer (PART VI - Practice)

Saying that “we do not find our own center; it finds us…we do not think ourselves into new ways of living.  We live ourselves into new ways of thinking” is one thing (Rohr 2003, 19).  But getting to a place were we both believe and actively practice it is difficult.  It requires a departure from the thinking of culture, from Plato, from Aristotle, even the Church at times.  To become stable in our interruptions and to live lives of contemplative prayer takes time, effort, and change in perspective.
   
To enter into contemplative prayer in 2012, several practices help to create the necessary stability, interruption, and change to reorient how we see and perceive things.  First, it is important to practice silence and solitude.  Both are difficult.  They are contrary to the hyper-paced world of consumerism and productivity, but are vital components to the contemplative prayer life. Thibodeaux argues that “I can have silence without solitude, but I cannot have solitude without being silent” (Thibodeaux 2001, 41).  Slowing down and ridding oneself of distraction take practice, time, and dedication. 
   
To aid the practice of silence and solitude, “ready-made prayers” become increasingly helpful (Thibodeaux 2001, 55).  To repetitively pray, “God’s will be done,” or The Lord’s Prayer, the individual can begin to focus on God more intimately and escape the to-do lists and other tasks and thoughts that distract from silence and solitude.  Over time, these prayers seep into all thoughts, leaving the individual with a practice that allows a more continued silence, solitude, and prayer, which is now part of the natural flow of one’s day.  God is on our lips and in our minds, and becomes the filter for which life is now lived. 
   
Another effective prayer is, “I am God’s subject…what does my King expect of me?  What do I expect of my King?  How far will I go in service to Him?  How loyal am I?  How loyal do I want to be?” (Thibodeaux 2001, 56).  This is another centering prayer that, over time and practice, becomes the filter to how all of life is lived.  We enter into relationships seeking what God’s will, would be.  We complete our mundane tasks in light of them being a service to God.  This truly changes everything.  There is no longer a segment of life with God, and a segment with the world.  This prayer relishes the scriptural truth that “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,” and that everything we say and do, have Kingdom implications.  The contemplative prayer is now a regular piece that connects everything. 
   
Finally, to practice a contemplative prayer life that provides stability and interruption, leads us to Thibodeaux’s conclusion, that “When I finally painfully turn my eyes away from my own reflection and look upon the face of God, I am so struck by God’s beauty that I never look upon myself again” (Thibodeaux 2001, 145).  Left to our own devices, we feel the need to justify time and efforts spent with God in contemplative prayer.  Our culture tells us that in all things there is a return on investment, and that through this time of contemplation we should gain an actionable plan or an awareness that betters us in such a way that validates the time and effort put out.  However, as we practice contemplative prayer, we understand that God’s purposes are not necessarily the world’s purposes, and that being with Him is sufficient enough.  God is more than enough.  The contemplative prayer shows us that over and over again. 

Peace,
Ross

p.s. tomorrow will be the final PART to this series!

Contemplative Prayer (PART V - Stability & Interruption)

Stability

One way in which we can begin to move toward a healthy understanding of contemplative prayer (and life) that the scriptures points us towards, is to practice stability.  Jonathon Hartgrove writes, “the practice of stability is the means by which God’s house becomes our home…the ground of stability is always God’s grace.  But the stability God invites us into is a practice that entails a way of life.  To dwell in the house of God is to be transformed into people who know the ways and means of God” (Hartgrove 2010, 17).
   
Stability is not economic provision, secure health care, and properly functioning cars.  Stability deals much more closely with the notion that “we are suspended between heaven and earth on a ladder that promises communion with God but is also planted firmly on the ground…it is a commitment to trust God not in an ideal world, but in the battered and bruised world we know” (Hartgrove 2010, 24).  Stability cannot overlook community.  It is attached to community because it’s in the house of God that we create a home, a foundation for our faith, and we ultimately put our trust in God to sustain us in that community.

                                                 Interruption
The individual that seeks a contemplative prayer life must practice interruption.  He/she must become aware that out of a contemplative prayer life, transformation happens, reorients, creates new realities, and challenges assumptions.  This might sound the opposite of stability, but instead is a foundation for stability and contemplative prayer.  As Christians, we are participating in a faith that at its genesis is about transformation, change, restoration, and renewal.     
   
Interruption then works hand-in-hand with stability, because at our root of stability is the yearning for change and transformation.  This becomes our goal.  We are seeking the face of the God that transforms and doesn’t leave His children unaffected.  As we participate in contemplative prayer, we notice God in each situation and scenario as moving its participants in a direction.  Contemplative prayer enables us to holistically interrupt status quo and participate more fully in His kingdom, by knowing the heart of God. 
   
This is not an easy task.  We often enjoy uninterrupted stability in our jobs, our homes, and relationships.  But in Christ, we cannot stand still.  Part of culture’s lie is that our identities are tied to the ladders we climb.  How high we can get tells our story and defines us.  However, in contemplative prayer we are satisfied that our identities are in Christ alone, that we proclaim a new metric for whatever “success” may be, and that being with God is more important than becoming one. 


Peace,
Ross

Contemplative Prayer (PART IV - Now & Into the Future)

If contemplative prayer is such a counter-cultural spiritual discipline, how does one begin the practice?  Richard Rohr explains that we must begin living lives of contemplative prayer by “living and fully accepting our reality” (Rohr 2003, 18).  He continues to explain that “we do not find our own center; it finds us…we do not think ourselves into new ways of living.  We live ourselves into new ways of thinking” (Rohr 2003, 19).  Our lives circling the circumference cannot be escaped – they are our stories.  But the path around the circumference can indeed lead us to the core reality, “where we meet both our truest self and our truest God” (Rohr 2003, 19).  It is true that we do not know what it means to be human, unless we know God, because we are created in His image.  Thus, we cannot know God unless we know our own brokenness and suffering. 
   
The notion that Plato and Aristotle posited of knowledge leading to our ability in controlling nature, we have reworked our societies to prosper in this way.  We have even turned our spirituality into a results-based-faith.  The lie is that successful churches are mega-churches, and that the same economies of the world echo God’s economies.  But “spirituality is about seeing.  It’s not about earning or achieving.  Its about relationship rather than results or requirements” (Rohr 2003, 33). 

You don’t need to push the river, because you are in it.  The life is lived within us, and we learn how to say yes to that life.  If we exist on a level where we can see how everything belongs, we can trust the flow and trust the life, the life so large and deep and spacious that it even includes its opposite, death.  We must do this, because it is the only life available to us, as Paul wrote to the Colossians, “You have died [the small ego self], and the life you new have is hidden with Christ in God [the Godself].  When Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him” (Col. 3:3-4)  (Rohr 2003, 34-35).

So if we are to truly believe that we are in Christ, we must assume that the totality of life’s experiences is contained in contemplative prayer.  We must work to align our hearts and minds to this truth.  We must accept that every moment is spiritual, that all ground is holy, and that every interaction has eternal significance.


Peace,
Ross

Connecting Dots : Google Robot Car, Journey, & Kingdom...

I'm always looking to connect dots.  On Tuesday I read THIS, an article about Google's first ROBOT CAR being licensed in NV.  The technology behind the new Google Robot Car allows for safe navigation to one's destination. 

Once you get past the cool sci-fi images in your head (think The Jetson's, Total Recall, iRobot, Minority Report, etc.), you have a new way to travel: safe and destination-bound.  Its an instant gratifying mode of transportation that eliminates the white-knuckles and attention that's required of driving, right?

But like a lot of technology (and I LOVE innovative technology!) we're working towards instant gratification - in this case destination.

Here's a few other totally random examples (and I'm really trying not to demonize any of these, but rather just point out how we're a culture of "destination.")

Facebook - when you lack true visceral community, it provides a virtual destination

Discovery/Travel Channel - I have actually heard people argue, that they don't really need to travel anymore, because they can just watch Discovery or the Travel Channel

RockBand - when you don't have the motivation, time, or finances to learn to play an instrument or take the lessons, you can simply strap on the 5 color guitar and wail away on your favorite Zepplin tunes!

Pornography - sexual intimacy without the relationship

The common missing factor I see in each of these, is the journey.  Relationships take time, energy, pain(s), and effort.  Travel requires planning, money, learning new languages and cultures, and potential dangers(s).  And intimacy requires a great deal of relationship, trust, and vulnerability.  These are all hazards of the journey.

Now going back to the Google Robot Car, we literally eliminate the journey.  Where I used to dread the night drive in the rain, the white-knuckled journey up a snowy pass in Colorado to get to a music venue in time for sound check, or the navigation it would require to make it through a big city I'd never traveled before, I can now conceivably enter my destination coordinates, sit back, and enjoy a DVD on my iPad, or have a virtual conversation via Facebook.

But I have a feeling that I'll miss the adventure and the attention it requires to participate in the journey.  I believe that it's in the journey that we really grow, and become who we were created to be.

The earth is an amazing place.  I believe that in this earth, the Kingdom of God is breaking-in all around us, and I'd hate to miss it, because I simply phoned in my coordinates.  (Ah-ha, another dot being connected)

The journey is one reason I refuse to sing "I'll Fly Away" anymore.  It's a song about leaving, being gone, hoping for the destination, and not embracing the kingdom-journey, here, now, and today.  There's harm in destination language, without being coupled with the trials of the journey.

And that, my friends is why I enjoy connecting dots.

Peace,
Ross

Can Habit Kill Faith?

Yesterday while listening to NPR over lunch, there was a researcher discussing the science behind habit. He talked about what parts of the brain control habits, and just how fast habits are made (and conversely broken).

The basal ganglia controls this function of habit. He explained that even functions like how we brush our teeth are habitual; that if one was to film an individual for a month brushing his/her teeth, that the individual would 99% of the time go through the same exact routine. But, if that individual had to explain the routine, most likely they couldn't; that our brains perform the functions innately.

I have on numerous occasions driven a good distance, only to arrive at my location to realize I couldn't even remember driving there - the turns, the yielding, the changing lanes, etc. Not that I was distracted or not paying attention, but that I was seemingly, completely focused on whatever was on the radio (like listening to habit forming science on NPR) or thinking about an upcoming meeting, lyrics to a new song, etc. Driving even a short distance is extremely complex. Yet over time, it can occur without known or perceived thought.

Let's extend this to faith...

What happens when our faith becomes habitual? Certainly there can be good outcomes. When we're faced with tragedy or suffering, and our first (most natural) response is prayer; that's good. But what happens when the way(s) we worship become habit? What happens when our routine causes us to participate in the same way we drive home from work without even really being there?

I can't give proof of the internal-negatives. But what I can produce, is response and reaction to worship where change happens.

When change is implemented into the worship environment, emails can flood the inbox with confusion and distaste. Even a simple change like re-organizing the seating can disrupt the routine that the basal ganglia has deemed "worship." When an extra song is sung, a prayer is skipped, a song you love uses new or different instrumentation, or announcements go too long, the basal ganglia is interrupted and "worship" is thrown out of whack. When I get these emails or am confronted with these conversations, it stirs me in such a way that I want to respond with disgust.

More appropriately, would be responding with programming and planning constant change in the worship experience. After all, we're supposed to be proclaiming a message of transformation. Not a one-time transformation, but constant transformation. That's what resurrection does. It transforms. And when we allow habit to define and control our faith, transformation comes to a standstill, resurrection loses its power, and worship becomes sterile.

Peace,
Ross

Stop Domesticating It!

I've often felt that our faith has been domesticated. But more recently, many of the artists I run around with have shared that one of the major reasons they have "left organized religion" is the fact that the faith they once held dear has been watered down, ripped of its danger, and made vanilla.

Yesterday, CNN ran THIS ARTICLE.

"it seems like Christians are uncomfortable with how earthy the Bible really is. They feel the need to tidy up God...God’s message was not meant to be run through some arbitrary, holier-than-thou politeness filter. He intended the Bible to speak to people where they’re at, caught up in the stark reality of life on a fractured planet."

I couldn't agree more!

We attempt to expose a life-altering faith with our peers, but often times all that's experienced is a temperate, mundane, safe, far-from-revolutionary, nominal, set of beliefs that aren't much more than ideals we don't ever really expect to fully-believe, critically examine, or stand for in the face of any kind of scrutiny.

We've overcome the grit of broken lives with our choir robes and 3 chord praise songs; concealed the pain and doubt of life with freshly produced 1 hour services that tell us what we want to hear, so that we sleep better at night knowing we're right and they're wrong; and push us to dream only as big as we have left overs for.

I'm sorry, but when I open the pages of the scriptures, I just don't find a rationale for this domestication that's become the gold standard of church. I'm beginning to believe my friends that have walked away from faith were onto something, and the Church needs to reclaim what's withered.

Peace,
Ross

Another Day of Conversation & Nature

Today was another day off, which was spent engaging in conversation with some people from across the US and globe. I love to hear stories and discuss faith and politics with people that don't all think alike. Plus, we got to do it surrounded in nature.

Peace,
Ross

LOST & the Story of God

ALPHA.

Last night was the LOST season finale. Kate and I have been devotees for the past few years; watching, dissecting, and postulating every single episode. As the final scenes unraveled we truly felt like we were losing someone (or at least something profound - maybe our time commitment...maybe more).

The story line has primarily been a spiritual/faith epic, from each characters perspective. And last night we got to see how it ended.

Consider this...in most historical faiths, we know the beginning and the end (metaphorically at least). Its the middle though, that gets blurry. Its blurry because that's the part we reside in. Its riddled with doubt, belief, disbelief, mystery, struggle, joy, suffering, etc.

So as the story of LOST came to close last night, not every question from the blurry-middle was answered. But perhaps that's the point. Perhaps we need to struggle through the beginning and end just enough to help our struggle in the blurry-middle. Perhaps we're supposed to wrestle with the uncertainties because it draws us to (if not mandates) community.

LIVE TOGETHER or DIE ALONE...

Another theme from the show, not set apart from faith or spirituality - the communal aspect is as vital to the journey as the personal. I believe with all my heart that without true community, any sort of spiritual journey is a walk toward failure. Its not how we were created. And its not how the story ends.

Are there questions? YES
Will they ever be answered? MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO
Is that ok? ABSOLUTELY (if not even the point)

Faith and spirituality is not, and has never been, about empirical data and proof. It has always been about the rise and fall of community, remembrance, mystery, and faith.

OMEGA.