I don't know about you, but I'm glad the Olympics are over. It was fun and exciting to watch. But after a while you get tired of them. Luckily they only come around every two years.
In reflecting back on those two weeks, it appears that Andy Warhol's statement about fame has been proven. Michael Phelps was the big story with is eight gold medal performances. It's still a great accomplishment and will probably stand for quite a while, maybe forever. The media has moved on however and so has the water cooler conversation.
Despite being out of the limelight, Phelps' performance has much to teach us about living faithfully to God. Three of his eight gold medals were in team events. If not for the incredible swim of his teammate Jason Lezak in the 4X100M relay, Phelps' total would have been only seven.
I'm learning a lot about teamwork. As a middle school teacher, teaming among teachers is the norm. All the math teachers in our grade level plan together, schedule together, etc. We even have integration teams that link several disciplines as we work together to teach our non-academic core classes together. Ideas, suggestions, support and help freely flow from one person to another. I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world to be part of the school team known as Clayton Middle School.
The idea of teamwork is beginning to permeate most of my life. I have organized all my students into teams. I told them it was because in real life, you never work alone. They were to also use the teams for peer support. Some of the responsibility for each student's individual success will depend on the help of his or her team.
I coach the school's volleyball the team. Final cuts were Thursday. At the first practice on Friday I told them they were only a squad right now. Their goal was to learn to play as a team. We began making strides toward that goal by the end of practice yesterday.
In the religious world, we call teams "community". On this faith journey outside the walls of the brick and mortar church, the need for a team is ever apparent. Living faithfully cannot be done alone. Life has normalized for us after a difficult six months. I'm amazed at the people God has placed in my path. I haven't built a team yet, but I know one is coming. More than gold medals await as result.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
What do you do when . . .
An old seminary bud has posted some interesting thoughts on pursuing your passions, regardless of the results. Be sure to read my comment and follow-up question to his thoughts.
I'll repeat my question here with some elaboration. I believe God has given us all talents, gifts, and passions. The three are not the same,though overlap may exist. Talents are those things we do naturally well. Gifts are those things God gives us and enables us to do "divinely well" (as Zola Levitt described them) for the purposes of building up the body of Christ and the Church. Passions are those things we relentlessly pursue because of the fulfillment they bring.
Here's the question. What do you do when your talents, gifts, and passions lead you in three different directions? Do you devote more energy to one at the neglect of the other? I pose this question because of the personal dilemma I am currently experiencing. I believe that I have certain gifts that will not be used unless I am in a brick and mortar church. I have discovered and re-discovered some passions that I am now pursuing. I am finding great fulfillment in them, though, perhaps selfishly. My new job as 7th grade math teacher certainly utilizes what I consider some of my natural talents.
Granted, there is some considerable overlap among the three areas. However, in the case of the gifts not being utilized, what do you think? Personally, I believe that I am being led to find another medium whereby they can be employed, not restricting them to the rigid paradigm of the brick and mortar church as the only church. (Forgive my lapse into intellectual speak) Besides losing yourself in your own introspection about your personal situation, I'd like your thoughts. How do you divy up your energy between talents, passions, and gift when there are all different?
I'll repeat my question here with some elaboration. I believe God has given us all talents, gifts, and passions. The three are not the same,though overlap may exist. Talents are those things we do naturally well. Gifts are those things God gives us and enables us to do "divinely well" (as Zola Levitt described them) for the purposes of building up the body of Christ and the Church. Passions are those things we relentlessly pursue because of the fulfillment they bring.
Here's the question. What do you do when your talents, gifts, and passions lead you in three different directions? Do you devote more energy to one at the neglect of the other? I pose this question because of the personal dilemma I am currently experiencing. I believe that I have certain gifts that will not be used unless I am in a brick and mortar church. I have discovered and re-discovered some passions that I am now pursuing. I am finding great fulfillment in them, though, perhaps selfishly. My new job as 7th grade math teacher certainly utilizes what I consider some of my natural talents.
Granted, there is some considerable overlap among the three areas. However, in the case of the gifts not being utilized, what do you think? Personally, I believe that I am being led to find another medium whereby they can be employed, not restricting them to the rigid paradigm of the brick and mortar church as the only church. (Forgive my lapse into intellectual speak) Besides losing yourself in your own introspection about your personal situation, I'd like your thoughts. How do you divy up your energy between talents, passions, and gift when there are all different?
Friday, August 8, 2008
Yes, I'm still doing this
I haven't posted here in over a month. That's not at all what I had intended back in the spring when I created this blog. My intent had been to post the raw emotion and unedited thoughts that surged through my mind as I experienced life following God outside the brick and mortar church. But a couple of things happened along the way. I started filling in at a church that's in between pastors right now. Whenever I got some blistering thought or essay that I wanted to post, I did not have access to a computer. By the time I had the opportunity to post, the emotion had died down and I had decided that maybe my words were too strong or too easily misunderstood. So I decided against publishing them.
The thing that has hampered my posting the most has been my thoughts on being a revolutionary. Early in this journey, I will admit to dreams of being some type of revolutionary leader. This "home church" thing is not new, so I'm not talking revolutionary in that sense. I must admit however that I was looking at making a statement and bringing a change in the small part of the church universe of which I am part.
The glory of the revolution is really cool. The benefits AFTER the revolution certainly are tremondous. The reality of the revolution is not. Those of us in the Protestant universe look to Martin Luther and the revolution he began, breaking away from the Roman Catholic church. We Americans look to our Founding Fathers as heroes of our country. In modern history, we look to Ghandi as a great leader in the freeing of India. Closer to home, we honor the man who was greatly influenced by Ghandi and changed the face of race relations in our own country, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not to be sexist, we have great revolutionaries like Susan B. Anthony who fought for a woman's right to vote.
Being a revolutionary sounds cool. You get to wear olive or black cargo pants, dark colored turtlenecks, and berets. You are surrounded by people who believe in your cause. You experience a continual adrenaline rush as you subvert the authority around you. And the reality of all the above heroes is that their lives were often in great peril. The larger part of society, or at least it's power structures, were not in favor of their revolution. I'm betting that many of them lost close and precious friends as they parted ways because of the revolution.
I like the costume part of the revolution, but I'm not real excited about potentially losing friends because I've been misunderstood. As our family navigates this new part of our journey, we're still struggling with making sure that everyone is adequately ministered to AND has an adequate opportunity to minister using his or her gifts. We are in a continual state of reflection, wondering if this really is the right thing for our family.
But, we trudge on. Being transparent, honest, and a little bit raw in my emotion, we have finally moved out of our survival stage. Since resigning from my last pastorate, we have been floundering. We have dealt with the pain and hurt we experienced that led to my resignation. We have struggled with trying to determine where God was leading us next. We held onto this vision of a church without the brick and mortar, but we have been disappointed because we have not been able to really go anywhere with it.
And certainly not least of all has been the ever constant question of how will I support my family now that I am out of job. In fact, it's probably been the greatest issue of all, despite our trust in God that he would take care of our needs. And boy did he ever. Sometime I'll have to tell you all the wonderful ways he provided for us during that time. Thankfully, that part has finally been answered. Now we feel like we can get out of survival mode and really begin pursuing this vision.
Yes, I'm still doing this. My family honestly believes we are on the course God has set before us. While it may not be revolutionary in a universal sense, it certainly is revolutionary for our family. It's not easy in a variety of ways. Even though revolutions are often dangerous, we faithfully trudge on, trusting that the benefits will far outweigh any perceived casualties along the way. The Beatles asked if we really wanted a revolution. I say yes.
The thing that has hampered my posting the most has been my thoughts on being a revolutionary. Early in this journey, I will admit to dreams of being some type of revolutionary leader. This "home church" thing is not new, so I'm not talking revolutionary in that sense. I must admit however that I was looking at making a statement and bringing a change in the small part of the church universe of which I am part.
The glory of the revolution is really cool. The benefits AFTER the revolution certainly are tremondous. The reality of the revolution is not. Those of us in the Protestant universe look to Martin Luther and the revolution he began, breaking away from the Roman Catholic church. We Americans look to our Founding Fathers as heroes of our country. In modern history, we look to Ghandi as a great leader in the freeing of India. Closer to home, we honor the man who was greatly influenced by Ghandi and changed the face of race relations in our own country, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not to be sexist, we have great revolutionaries like Susan B. Anthony who fought for a woman's right to vote.
Being a revolutionary sounds cool. You get to wear olive or black cargo pants, dark colored turtlenecks, and berets. You are surrounded by people who believe in your cause. You experience a continual adrenaline rush as you subvert the authority around you. And the reality of all the above heroes is that their lives were often in great peril. The larger part of society, or at least it's power structures, were not in favor of their revolution. I'm betting that many of them lost close and precious friends as they parted ways because of the revolution.
I like the costume part of the revolution, but I'm not real excited about potentially losing friends because I've been misunderstood. As our family navigates this new part of our journey, we're still struggling with making sure that everyone is adequately ministered to AND has an adequate opportunity to minister using his or her gifts. We are in a continual state of reflection, wondering if this really is the right thing for our family.
But, we trudge on. Being transparent, honest, and a little bit raw in my emotion, we have finally moved out of our survival stage. Since resigning from my last pastorate, we have been floundering. We have dealt with the pain and hurt we experienced that led to my resignation. We have struggled with trying to determine where God was leading us next. We held onto this vision of a church without the brick and mortar, but we have been disappointed because we have not been able to really go anywhere with it.
And certainly not least of all has been the ever constant question of how will I support my family now that I am out of job. In fact, it's probably been the greatest issue of all, despite our trust in God that he would take care of our needs. And boy did he ever. Sometime I'll have to tell you all the wonderful ways he provided for us during that time. Thankfully, that part has finally been answered. Now we feel like we can get out of survival mode and really begin pursuing this vision.
Yes, I'm still doing this. My family honestly believes we are on the course God has set before us. While it may not be revolutionary in a universal sense, it certainly is revolutionary for our family. It's not easy in a variety of ways. Even though revolutions are often dangerous, we faithfully trudge on, trusting that the benefits will far outweigh any perceived casualties along the way. The Beatles asked if we really wanted a revolution. I say yes.
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