I had suggested to a few friends at one point making this blog a place for book reviews but then I slowed reading for a while or read books that I was unsure of how to review. So I'll give this a try and I expect to read a lot from now until December at least so this should work out. Welcome to the new place for book reviews!
I went camping to Ruidoso, NM a few weekends ago and took along "Till We Have Faces" by C. S. Lewis. Let me set the stage for you a little to make this more interesting: sitting on a camping bag chair in the "porch" of a camper trailer with background noises of children, pugs, and rain. This book is essentially the retelling of a particular event in mythology regarding Cupid and Psyche. But even more basic, this book is about love, two types of love to be exact: sacred and profane.
When I picked up this book I knew nothing about it whatsoever. I was expect another great Christian metaphor like Narnia or The Great Divorce however the obvious metaphors in this book were about pagan religions and Greek rationality. The premise is quite scriptural however coming out of 1 Corinthians 13:12 "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." This verse is what the whole book points toward.
The discussions on love I found quite convicting. The end left me pondering what it means to love as Christ loves. And the most obnoxious thing about this book that I also found true of "The Great Divorce" is that I really want to read it again now that I know where it is going. I want to see the story in light of the end.
You do not have to know the story of Cupid and Psyche to understand this story. Lewis gives all the necessary knowledge as the story unfolds. I recommend reading it outside with a lemonade or on a rainy day with a cup of fresh Fair Trade coffee. And as always, if you know me then feel free to come over to the Gerber house and borrow it off my shelf.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Searching
I realize a new chapter in my life of genuinely searching for God perhaps initiated or instigated by higher education and frequent travel with exposure to true beauty and rich truth. I have been in contact with both evil and love. I now desire to possess the truth of these events. I want to find God. I will search this world to its farthest reaches not strictly for the pleasure in travel but to experience the faces of God. I will continue to consume books that use intellectualism to reflect and point toward Christ. And in the end I expect to make a full circle and realize the great paradox that perhaps I encountered God far away, still He has been making himself known to me from the very beginning, I didn't have to leave the room I inhabit to encounter God.
I'm in a theology class that feels more like a philosophy class at times. We have answered the question of the meaning of life. We ask why shall we strive to succeed. Also we redefined freedom in terms that I'm struggling to make peace with.
All this to say, I'm about to begin a search of where the Church of Christ developed their theology from. Unfortunately I feel like I am offending or dishonoring my great grandfather by going on this journey to undermine his beliefs. And it's not that simple, he has spent his life shepherding his family to be Christians but in this 'denomination' a person cannot belong to another flock and still be true and unfortunately they (the great grandparents) take that seriously. Anyway, I just got a call that he had a heart attack and is in the hospital. I'm really glad that I got to see him again this last week and I really want to see him again but I know he has given up on life. He is content with the life he has lived and doesn't want to live by medicine.
I'm in a theology class that feels more like a philosophy class at times. We have answered the question of the meaning of life. We ask why shall we strive to succeed. Also we redefined freedom in terms that I'm struggling to make peace with.
All this to say, I'm about to begin a search of where the Church of Christ developed their theology from. Unfortunately I feel like I am offending or dishonoring my great grandfather by going on this journey to undermine his beliefs. And it's not that simple, he has spent his life shepherding his family to be Christians but in this 'denomination' a person cannot belong to another flock and still be true and unfortunately they (the great grandparents) take that seriously. Anyway, I just got a call that he had a heart attack and is in the hospital. I'm really glad that I got to see him again this last week and I really want to see him again but I know he has given up on life. He is content with the life he has lived and doesn't want to live by medicine.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Traveling Mercies
So this is what summer is like...
I remember when I was a wee little tot, maybe 8 or 9. I would spend everyday of the summer sleeping in then finding which neighbors were home to spend the day playing with. We would ride bikes, play in gutters, pogo stick race around the block, play soccer, basketball, or football, or play inside by building tents and tunnels with bedsheets. Those summers were long and boring mostly but memorable all the same.
Now summer means working as much as possible while juggling road trips and annual traditions with friends. Now throw in a little fundraising campaigning and carving out opportunities to see family while I still can. This year doesn't feel like I'm getting any kind of break to recharge and relax. The first couple weeks of summer with the intensive class on spiritual disciplines then off to Maine for a week were the only relaxing times I've had so far.
Still I am grateful for the variety. Spring semester was for school and travels for research. Summer has been for saving and preparing for Brazil. This fall will be Brazil. Then Spring will be back to grad school. The variety is what keeps me going and prevents burn out.
Today I watched City of God and informed my temp family that the favela I'm going to is "not quite that bad" according to our fearless leader on the ground now. I'm going to dream about that tonight pretty sure. Kids with guns. Frightening.
The countdown to mega road trip is winding down now. We leave in aprox. 76 hours. I'm not excited at all. Can you tell? I think the trip will be an effective metaphor for part of life via the long way home. I'll update next when I get to Texas with photos and a boring and detailed story of all the boring things that we do. Like drive for 9 hours then drink a green apple dr. pepper from sonic in Soux falls. then drive for 4 hours before sleeping in Custer. or something dry like that. I'm rambling. Thanks for reading.
peace in the middle east
I remember when I was a wee little tot, maybe 8 or 9. I would spend everyday of the summer sleeping in then finding which neighbors were home to spend the day playing with. We would ride bikes, play in gutters, pogo stick race around the block, play soccer, basketball, or football, or play inside by building tents and tunnels with bedsheets. Those summers were long and boring mostly but memorable all the same.
Now summer means working as much as possible while juggling road trips and annual traditions with friends. Now throw in a little fundraising campaigning and carving out opportunities to see family while I still can. This year doesn't feel like I'm getting any kind of break to recharge and relax. The first couple weeks of summer with the intensive class on spiritual disciplines then off to Maine for a week were the only relaxing times I've had so far.
Still I am grateful for the variety. Spring semester was for school and travels for research. Summer has been for saving and preparing for Brazil. This fall will be Brazil. Then Spring will be back to grad school. The variety is what keeps me going and prevents burn out.
Today I watched City of God and informed my temp family that the favela I'm going to is "not quite that bad" according to our fearless leader on the ground now. I'm going to dream about that tonight pretty sure. Kids with guns. Frightening.
The countdown to mega road trip is winding down now. We leave in aprox. 76 hours. I'm not excited at all. Can you tell? I think the trip will be an effective metaphor for part of life via the long way home. I'll update next when I get to Texas with photos and a boring and detailed story of all the boring things that we do. Like drive for 9 hours then drink a green apple dr. pepper from sonic in Soux falls. then drive for 4 hours before sleeping in Custer. or something dry like that. I'm rambling. Thanks for reading.
peace in the middle east
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Thomas Merton
"This then is what it means to seek God perfectly: to withdraw from illusion and pleasure, from worldly anxieties and desires, from the works that God does not want, from a glory that is only human display; to keep my mind free from confusion in order that my liberty may be always at the disposal of His will; to entertain silence in my heart and listen for the voice of God; to cultivate an intellectual freedom from concepts and the image of created things in order to receive the secret contact of God in faith; to love all men as myself; to rest in humility and to find peace in withdrawal from conflict and competition with other men; to turn aside from controversy and put away heavy loads, judgement and censorship and criticism and the whole burden of opinions that I have no obligation to carry; to have a will that is always ready to fold back within itself and draw all the powers of the soul down into its deepest center to rest in silent expectancy for the coming of God, poised in tranquil and effortless concemtration upon the point of my dependence on Him; to gather all that I am and have and all that I can possibly suffer or do or be, and abandon them all to God in the resignation of a perfect love and blind faith and pure trust in God, to do His will. And then to wait in peace and emptiness and oblivion of all things.
Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation
Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation
Friday, May 25, 2007
Life Goals
A couple years ago a friend told me about a list of things he wanted to do in his lifetime. He wrote it while he was in high school and by this point he had graduated college and realized his time was running out to accomplish some of the things on his list before the strains of adult life held fast their unrelenting hold on him. The most remarkable thing on his list was to run a marathon. This man was at least a hundred pounds away from running a marathon but that didn't stop him, it actually became greater motivation. He inspired me to come up with my own list. Now two years later I think I'm finally ready to give this list a try.
Life Goals:
1. Hike the entire Appalachian Trail
2. Run a Marathon
3. Spend a minimum of 8 years in another country
4. Adopt children
5. Write a book
Now we all know that dreaming about doing things is not enough. Unless we make concrete efforts to accomplish goals they will never get themselves done.
So here's where I'm at in accomplishing each of these things:
1. Looks like I'll begin preparing to make the voyage across 14 eastern states from March-September 2009.
2. I'm trying to run 2-3 times a week to maintain current shape but have not selected a marathon or year.
3. Preparing to work on a Servant Team with Word Made Flesh this fall to see if WMF would be an organization that I could serve with for many years.
4. I know that I want a boy from Africa and a girl from South East Asia but I'm single and in a transitional stage in life so I am not prepared to have kids of my own yet. I would prefer to wait until I'm married and plan to live in one place for several years before beginning the adoption process.
5. I have an outline for the book I want to write. I plan to work on the majority of it after graduation from Wheaton while working in Lubbock. Some before the AT and finishing after just before going overseas long-term. Approx. date of release: 2011.
There, that was a fun exercise. I'll come back to this in a year and see what kind of progress has been made. You should come up with a life goals list as well. No matter how young or old you are goals and very good to motivate us to constantly better ourselves and benefit the world we live in.
blessings,
jp
Life Goals:
1. Hike the entire Appalachian Trail
2. Run a Marathon
3. Spend a minimum of 8 years in another country
4. Adopt children
5. Write a book
Now we all know that dreaming about doing things is not enough. Unless we make concrete efforts to accomplish goals they will never get themselves done.
So here's where I'm at in accomplishing each of these things:
1. Looks like I'll begin preparing to make the voyage across 14 eastern states from March-September 2009.
2. I'm trying to run 2-3 times a week to maintain current shape but have not selected a marathon or year.
3. Preparing to work on a Servant Team with Word Made Flesh this fall to see if WMF would be an organization that I could serve with for many years.
4. I know that I want a boy from Africa and a girl from South East Asia but I'm single and in a transitional stage in life so I am not prepared to have kids of my own yet. I would prefer to wait until I'm married and plan to live in one place for several years before beginning the adoption process.
5. I have an outline for the book I want to write. I plan to work on the majority of it after graduation from Wheaton while working in Lubbock. Some before the AT and finishing after just before going overseas long-term. Approx. date of release: 2011.
There, that was a fun exercise. I'll come back to this in a year and see what kind of progress has been made. You should come up with a life goals list as well. No matter how young or old you are goals and very good to motivate us to constantly better ourselves and benefit the world we live in.
blessings,
jp
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Spiritual Disciplines
I'm in a wonderful class right now (week long) about Spiritual Formation and Witness. So far this class has really been refreshing and will just be a wonderful transition into a week by a lake in the forests of Maine (next week). Today we spent time discussion praying the Psalms. I prayed through Psalm 25, again. It's just been where my heart is lately. And then we wrote our own Psalms. Interesting but I think it gave me some perspective on why the Psalms are in the style and voice they are. Good exercises.
Just a refresher course for those not real familiar with the spiritual disciplines:
Most authors on the subject generally recognize two groups of disciplines, Abstinence and Engagement
The practices of abstinence include:
solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy (listen more interject less), sacrifice, and watching (such as Paul's practice of giving up sleep)
The practices of Engagement include:
study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, and submission
What I want to wrestle with today is what luxuries or common things can actually be used for disciplines?
For instance I really enjoy my work because I get to practice service, fellowship, and sometimes secrecy. At work is one place where I can actively live out some of the disciplines. But I would be able to do the same if I worked elsewhere or even if I didn't work at all. The practices are not contingent on my job.
Another example is I like to have my Sundays free from anything except church so that the rest of the day can be free to participate in any of the disciplines. I keep one day completely free so that I can never use the excuse of being too busy to carve out space for solitude or fasting or prayer.
Are you getting the picture?
For a while I claimed my iPod was part of my routine of discipline because 90% of the music was Christian-ish or would at least be capable of evoking a worshipful or celebratory response. Now however, it just fills the silence with more comfortable clamor.
I have been reflecting upon my semester that included a tremendous amount of travels to places like NY, CT, MA, NH, KY, IN, MI, and the places in between. Soon I'll be headed to ME and then for a long journey through NE, CO, NM, and TX. Some of my journeys have been on the seat of a motorcycle. The bike did something strange for my spiritual journey. For one I was forced into silence and solitude. There was no radio, cell phone, no reading, no human interaction (besides dodging traffic), and I was strangely at one with nature. Able to sense the changes in the air including subtle temperature changes, smells, winds, sounds. It is a unique experience that bikers share. I wonder if it could really be considered a valuable part of my spiritual formation and disciplines? Will my spiritual life suffer without the bike? Is that enough excuse to cleave to it even in the face of desires to become more frugal and live more simply?
That's all.
Just a refresher course for those not real familiar with the spiritual disciplines:
Most authors on the subject generally recognize two groups of disciplines, Abstinence and Engagement
The practices of abstinence include:
solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy (listen more interject less), sacrifice, and watching (such as Paul's practice of giving up sleep)
The practices of Engagement include:
study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, and submission
What I want to wrestle with today is what luxuries or common things can actually be used for disciplines?
For instance I really enjoy my work because I get to practice service, fellowship, and sometimes secrecy. At work is one place where I can actively live out some of the disciplines. But I would be able to do the same if I worked elsewhere or even if I didn't work at all. The practices are not contingent on my job.
Another example is I like to have my Sundays free from anything except church so that the rest of the day can be free to participate in any of the disciplines. I keep one day completely free so that I can never use the excuse of being too busy to carve out space for solitude or fasting or prayer.
Are you getting the picture?
For a while I claimed my iPod was part of my routine of discipline because 90% of the music was Christian-ish or would at least be capable of evoking a worshipful or celebratory response. Now however, it just fills the silence with more comfortable clamor.
I have been reflecting upon my semester that included a tremendous amount of travels to places like NY, CT, MA, NH, KY, IN, MI, and the places in between. Soon I'll be headed to ME and then for a long journey through NE, CO, NM, and TX. Some of my journeys have been on the seat of a motorcycle. The bike did something strange for my spiritual journey. For one I was forced into silence and solitude. There was no radio, cell phone, no reading, no human interaction (besides dodging traffic), and I was strangely at one with nature. Able to sense the changes in the air including subtle temperature changes, smells, winds, sounds. It is a unique experience that bikers share. I wonder if it could really be considered a valuable part of my spiritual formation and disciplines? Will my spiritual life suffer without the bike? Is that enough excuse to cleave to it even in the face of desires to become more frugal and live more simply?
That's all.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Healing
A week ago at Via Christus we talked about healing from Luke 17 with the ten people with leprosy. Then last night a friend and I had a conversation about healing in the context of the Episcopalian church being a place of healing.
Does God desire to heal our brokenness? I remember a few years ago reading "Mere Christianity" and getting really excited that the goal of humanity is to become like Christ. Not that we will achieve it on this side of eternity however we can make efforts toward that goal.
The process toward perfection and Christ-likeness seems to also include healing from brokenness. But is that something that comes in this lifetime? Is that healing from brokenness a prerequisite for ministering? Is brokenness a necessary component of the minister?
At the beginning of the conversation I tended to feel that in my particular instance healing was not going to occur in this lifetime. I feel like this particular brokenness has caused growth in so many areas of my life and has given me authority to minister to other broken people. Without this burden perhaps I would grow content or would loose my validity.
But my friend tossed in an idea of Malachi 3:10 and following about God daring Israel to be faithful with their tithe and see if God will be faithful to his people. This friend said that God was daring me to believe my brokenness can be healed and see if God is not faithful to that.
Now I'm curious. What does healing look like? It is different for different folks. Even in Luke 17, the man with leprosy asked Jesus to have pity on them. I guess asking for pity resulted in physical healing and spiritual cleansing. Perhaps I need the same.
So anyway, I'm just wondering about healing and whether it is necessary to be effective in ministry? And I'm also wondering if God desires our brokenness to be healed or does He desire for us to have transformed lives? Can we be transformed without healing (experience for me says yes)? Just seeking ideas. If anyone would like to join in the wondering feel free.
Does God desire to heal our brokenness? I remember a few years ago reading "Mere Christianity" and getting really excited that the goal of humanity is to become like Christ. Not that we will achieve it on this side of eternity however we can make efforts toward that goal.
The process toward perfection and Christ-likeness seems to also include healing from brokenness. But is that something that comes in this lifetime? Is that healing from brokenness a prerequisite for ministering? Is brokenness a necessary component of the minister?
At the beginning of the conversation I tended to feel that in my particular instance healing was not going to occur in this lifetime. I feel like this particular brokenness has caused growth in so many areas of my life and has given me authority to minister to other broken people. Without this burden perhaps I would grow content or would loose my validity.
But my friend tossed in an idea of Malachi 3:10 and following about God daring Israel to be faithful with their tithe and see if God will be faithful to his people. This friend said that God was daring me to believe my brokenness can be healed and see if God is not faithful to that.
Now I'm curious. What does healing look like? It is different for different folks. Even in Luke 17, the man with leprosy asked Jesus to have pity on them. I guess asking for pity resulted in physical healing and spiritual cleansing. Perhaps I need the same.
So anyway, I'm just wondering about healing and whether it is necessary to be effective in ministry? And I'm also wondering if God desires our brokenness to be healed or does He desire for us to have transformed lives? Can we be transformed without healing (experience for me says yes)? Just seeking ideas. If anyone would like to join in the wondering feel free.
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