Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Final Week: Including Everyone
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Relationships are not like McDonald's hamburgers.
I am reading this book right now called Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Read as a whole or by individual chapter, it doesn't matter-- the author is full of tips and inspirations to bring out the writer within.
You see, she has this chapter titled "Writing is Not Like a McDonald's Hamburger." "Writing is not a McDonald's hamburger . . ." she says, "the cooking is slow and in the beginning you are not sure whether a roast or a banquet or a lamb chop will result." And you thought I was being all clever with my title! This is my favorite chapter of the book because, well, I work at McDonald's. I have made plenty of hamburgers in my 5 years and 3 months of service.
After reading Aaron's post from this week, it brought me back to this chapter of the book. I laughed to myself at his description of how we, culturally, want things to flow: " . . . quickly and in a controlled environment to make sure everything goes according to plan." Ha. That is how I do my job. Which, for a corporation that prides itself on being fast in delivering it's product, is probably how I should do my job. If you disagree with that statement, then next time you have a slow or poor service experience at a McDonald's in the continental United States, don't complain to me about it (because you know you are gonna want to.)
I digress.
My point is, I have spent a lot of time trying to do life the same way I do my job, quickly and controlled, according to MY plan. Except, I kept forgetting about the creator of the Universe and how He already has a plan for me. I remember being 13 and deciding to date when God brought "Mr. Right" into my life . . . now, I seriously considered joining eHarmony last week. OK, so maybe I didn't really think about it as much as I joked, but there have been too many times I have rushed into relationships in order to speed up the process, control it, and make it fit my plan. All I got was a closet filled with skeletons and regrets. I can't do life like that. I need time to be patient, because good friends take a long time to grow. (Again, not from me; I read that on a pillow at a craft show). As cheesy as an analogy as that is, it's true. Relationships take time, they take patience, they take commitment and a willingness to try and try again. And again. And . . . again, and again, and again, and again, and again. You get the point.
In order to maintain a communtity, a growing and thriving community, you need time. And if you are going to spend time developing something, you need to have patience, because it's not gonna be want you want it to be right away, or at all, for that matter. Like Natalie's quote says, you don't really know what the end result might be, only that it's gonna be AWESOME. 'Cause, seriously, who wants a McDonald's hamburger when they could have a bountiful banquet?
Love in the Creator who has a plan for FAR better than any of our own,
Jess
You see, she has this chapter titled "Writing is Not Like a McDonald's Hamburger." "Writing is not a McDonald's hamburger . . ." she says, "the cooking is slow and in the beginning you are not sure whether a roast or a banquet or a lamb chop will result." And you thought I was being all clever with my title! This is my favorite chapter of the book because, well, I work at McDonald's. I have made plenty of hamburgers in my 5 years and 3 months of service.
After reading Aaron's post from this week, it brought me back to this chapter of the book. I laughed to myself at his description of how we, culturally, want things to flow: " . . . quickly and in a controlled environment to make sure everything goes according to plan." Ha. That is how I do my job. Which, for a corporation that prides itself on being fast in delivering it's product, is probably how I should do my job. If you disagree with that statement, then next time you have a slow or poor service experience at a McDonald's in the continental United States, don't complain to me about it (because you know you are gonna want to.)
I digress.
My point is, I have spent a lot of time trying to do life the same way I do my job, quickly and controlled, according to MY plan. Except, I kept forgetting about the creator of the Universe and how He already has a plan for me. I remember being 13 and deciding to date when God brought "Mr. Right" into my life . . . now, I seriously considered joining eHarmony last week. OK, so maybe I didn't really think about it as much as I joked, but there have been too many times I have rushed into relationships in order to speed up the process, control it, and make it fit my plan. All I got was a closet filled with skeletons and regrets. I can't do life like that. I need time to be patient, because good friends take a long time to grow. (Again, not from me; I read that on a pillow at a craft show). As cheesy as an analogy as that is, it's true. Relationships take time, they take patience, they take commitment and a willingness to try and try again. And again. And . . . again, and again, and again, and again, and again. You get the point.
In order to maintain a communtity, a growing and thriving community, you need time. And if you are going to spend time developing something, you need to have patience, because it's not gonna be want you want it to be right away, or at all, for that matter. Like Natalie's quote says, you don't really know what the end result might be, only that it's gonna be AWESOME. 'Cause, seriously, who wants a McDonald's hamburger when they could have a bountiful banquet?
Love in the Creator who has a plan for FAR better than any of our own,
Jess
Friday, August 6, 2010
VAP Week 7: Community takes TIME.
Here are some pictures from this week's event. Make sure to read the posts below to hear from some folks who've been thinking about this week's theme....TIME.
Our story, the story of God, and taking time in community to bring them together
This week for the Village Art Project we talked about Time and how it takes time to CREATE community. This inevitably invites me think about time and how time is inextricably linked to community. The following are some thoughts I have about time in addition to some other things I've been contemplating lately. Forgive me if this seems a bit tangential - it probably is - I suppose that's just how I am.
Time is something that often we're not very good at. Culturally, we don't value slowing down, listening, being contemplative, meditating, resting, sitting and stepping back. We have this idea that doing, action, forward motion, general movement, is instead what we should be striving for. We want things to happen quickly and in a controlled environment to make sure everything goes according to plan. And because just about everything we do involves some kind of interaction with people, we often overlook the beauty in people, aspects of people that should be appreciated, for the sake of time.
I have been thinking lately about story; about our "internal narrative" and the external realities that influence it over time. I have been thinking about how everyone has a story, and about how so many people hate their story. And yet, because it’s their story, they either defend it or hide it from others because its meaning is seemingly incomprehensible, often perceived this way because of pain built up over time. People who have suffered or who have not experienced the creature comforts they see around them, would logically want to trade their story, or even just part of their story, for a different less painful one. The problem is it isn't that easy. But too often we don't conceptualize the complexities of a person's story, and to their detriment, we try and convince people of an ease that simply doesn't exist.
Too often societally, we say poor people should just get a job and stop being so lazy, we talk about female victims of partner violence and accuse them of being stupid and we say they just need to leave, we talk about people who early in life never had a healthy attachment relationship with a caregiver and we say they just need to act more normal, we talk about people who have addictions and say they just need to stop. Do you see it? We profoundly over-simplify complex and painful stories we know nothing about. And in so doing, we vandalize grace and disfigure it into a repulsive misrepresentation; something that rejects rather than attracts. Over-simplifying someone else’s story like this is sad because it produces shame, and then humiliation, and ultimately only keeps people within their narrative rather give them the confidence to seek freedom from it.
I think part of God’s plan for the world, part of the mission of the church, is to help human beings live consistent with God’s story as revealed in scripture. The Gospel, a narrative of Jesus life, paints a picture of who Jesus is and how the people of God should live. The story of the Gospel is one that, in contradistinction to the agonistic, calls people into a different kind of story. This story is one about the Kingdom of God, and how in this Kingdom people love their enemies, extend hospitality to those that can’t reciprocate, the hungry are satisfied, the sinner is loved and the poor inherit life.
Followers of Jesus, Christians, will likely find it very difficult to help people integrate their narrative into the narrative of God - combining and making sense of their own story within the story of God – without meaningful relationship; more specifically, without friendship. It took a person’s entire life, a great deal of time, to develop the personal-historical story they have. As followers of Jesus, we are at best misguided when we expect individuals or a community of people to change quickly, and to change without the foundation of loving friendship.
Jesus gathered to Himself fisherman and tax collectors, failed revolutionaries caste aside by society. Then…..….He loved them. Sometimes telling people about Jesus might need to be more about discipling people into a relational community, where a person’s story is safely revealed over time, rather than moving too quickly to get people to have an experience praying a prayer. God’s good news needs to be connected somehow to the deep yearning of a person’s internal narrative. This deep yearning, I think, so often looks like community, Koinonia community.
Reconciliation, at least in part, is about restoring human beings into authentic relationship. This is what we were meant for. Jesus spent time with a handful of broken, messed up people and loved them in ways that were beyond their comprehension. He didn’t over-simplify their pain by minimizing or too quickly moving past it; He sat in it with them. God is using community in my life and the lives of many of my friends, teaching us that when we love God and love people over a period of time, and in the context of friendship, the story of God becomes revealed in our time. All of a sudden, our need to defend or hide our story dissipates, and we find the story of God slowly and gently integrating into our own.
Time is something that often we're not very good at. Culturally, we don't value slowing down, listening, being contemplative, meditating, resting, sitting and stepping back. We have this idea that doing, action, forward motion, general movement, is instead what we should be striving for. We want things to happen quickly and in a controlled environment to make sure everything goes according to plan. And because just about everything we do involves some kind of interaction with people, we often overlook the beauty in people, aspects of people that should be appreciated, for the sake of time.
I have been thinking lately about story; about our "internal narrative" and the external realities that influence it over time. I have been thinking about how everyone has a story, and about how so many people hate their story. And yet, because it’s their story, they either defend it or hide it from others because its meaning is seemingly incomprehensible, often perceived this way because of pain built up over time. People who have suffered or who have not experienced the creature comforts they see around them, would logically want to trade their story, or even just part of their story, for a different less painful one. The problem is it isn't that easy. But too often we don't conceptualize the complexities of a person's story, and to their detriment, we try and convince people of an ease that simply doesn't exist.
Too often societally, we say poor people should just get a job and stop being so lazy, we talk about female victims of partner violence and accuse them of being stupid and we say they just need to leave, we talk about people who early in life never had a healthy attachment relationship with a caregiver and we say they just need to act more normal, we talk about people who have addictions and say they just need to stop. Do you see it? We profoundly over-simplify complex and painful stories we know nothing about. And in so doing, we vandalize grace and disfigure it into a repulsive misrepresentation; something that rejects rather than attracts. Over-simplifying someone else’s story like this is sad because it produces shame, and then humiliation, and ultimately only keeps people within their narrative rather give them the confidence to seek freedom from it.
I think part of God’s plan for the world, part of the mission of the church, is to help human beings live consistent with God’s story as revealed in scripture. The Gospel, a narrative of Jesus life, paints a picture of who Jesus is and how the people of God should live. The story of the Gospel is one that, in contradistinction to the agonistic, calls people into a different kind of story. This story is one about the Kingdom of God, and how in this Kingdom people love their enemies, extend hospitality to those that can’t reciprocate, the hungry are satisfied, the sinner is loved and the poor inherit life.
Followers of Jesus, Christians, will likely find it very difficult to help people integrate their narrative into the narrative of God - combining and making sense of their own story within the story of God – without meaningful relationship; more specifically, without friendship. It took a person’s entire life, a great deal of time, to develop the personal-historical story they have. As followers of Jesus, we are at best misguided when we expect individuals or a community of people to change quickly, and to change without the foundation of loving friendship.
Jesus gathered to Himself fisherman and tax collectors, failed revolutionaries caste aside by society. Then…..….He loved them. Sometimes telling people about Jesus might need to be more about discipling people into a relational community, where a person’s story is safely revealed over time, rather than moving too quickly to get people to have an experience praying a prayer. God’s good news needs to be connected somehow to the deep yearning of a person’s internal narrative. This deep yearning, I think, so often looks like community, Koinonia community.
Reconciliation, at least in part, is about restoring human beings into authentic relationship. This is what we were meant for. Jesus spent time with a handful of broken, messed up people and loved them in ways that were beyond their comprehension. He didn’t over-simplify their pain by minimizing or too quickly moving past it; He sat in it with them. God is using community in my life and the lives of many of my friends, teaching us that when we love God and love people over a period of time, and in the context of friendship, the story of God becomes revealed in our time. All of a sudden, our need to defend or hide our story dissipates, and we find the story of God slowly and gently integrating into our own.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Time, or What it takes to realize the goal of all human history
Because sometimes its really hard to be together.
Acts 1-5 recounts the miraculous, surprising birth of the newly redefined "people of YHWH"...the ekklesia, the called-out ones. It's big and it's bad. People are speaking in languages they've never heard before, sick folks are being healed left and right, people are joyfully selling property and sharing everything they've got with the poor among them, formerly timid disciples are handily trouncing the religious "Ivy Leaugers" in public debate...who wouldn't want to be a part of something so dramatic, so radical, so....cool?!
Then Acts 6 happens, and we're reminded that though this new movement is so earth-shattering in its genesis, it's still made up of normal, every day folks like me. See, already, in spite of the fact that Jesus was pretty clear that the reconstituted people of God had absolutely nothing to do with whose blood was running in your veins, division had arisen (if it had ever gone to sleep) between the Hebraic and Hellenistic Jews that had decided to follow Jesus. Mind you, at this point the division was probably less about religious custom (being that these Hellenists were probably Gentile converts to Judaism, or at the very least "God-fearers" [converts minus the more "painful" requirements for conversion], who, following THAT conversion, were beginning to walk in Jesus' way) and probably almost exclusively about ethnicity. This wasn't a "new" division. It was one imported from the past. When we come to Jesus, and I mean WE, old patterns of relating tend to come with us...
Not only had this division, imported from pre-conversion Israel, tagged along, but we find that a complaint has been voiced by the Hellenists that as the church, under the direction of the disciples (see Acts 5), has been redistributing the money brought by its members to be shared among the poorest among them, certain ones of the Hellenists' widows have been overlooked in that redistribution. Luke gives us no reason to think that this overlooking is a simple mistake...he leaves us to assume that there is some measure of intention in this overlooking, and that ethnicity is at the heart of it. So not only has this anti-Jesus division found fresh life in the incredibly young community, but so has the tendency for us to provide for the needs of those most like or closest to us, to the detriment of those with whom we feel some "natural" division.
(I won't touch it now, but it'd be very interesting to study the role of the disciples in this...is their response about the priority of scripture study and prayer to "waiting tables" a noble defense of their apostolic role? or is it an excuse to get out of a spot they got themselves in to? Remember that chapter 5 seems to assign them the role of redistribution. And then to think that Stephen, one of the men chosen for the less important task of "waiting tables" is actually the first Christian martyr, and all the debate that will rage among the apostles themselves about the place of Gentiles and Gentile converts to Judaism in the coming chapters...I said wouldn't touch that now!)
What I'm seeing in all of this is that after the joy and drama of conversion comes the difficult work of learning to live together as God's people. After the Acts 1-5 comes Acts 6. After the book of Acts come all the letters of Paul and John... Becoming the people of God for the sake of the world is a difficult task that takes TIME.
But we are a people who do not respect time. More and more we are becoming a people who expect things (including relationships) to work perfectly the first time. We find ourselves presented insistently with an unending multitude of options. If one isn't working, you probably just need to switch to another. Don't like your preacher? Google the name of a famous one and listen to his podcasts. Don't like your husband? Jump on Facebook and try another round with an old high school flame (or the dude that was your best friend's flame)...or just hop on one of those Christian dating services! The glut of options available to us, while having some positives, is, for the most part, killing our ability to stick with, fight for, and truly experience Kingdom-of-God community.
What I notice is that there are lots of Christians who are willing to talk about the importance of "fighting" for our marriages, or fighting for our families, or fighting to make sure that our kids don't become homosexuals. But there are few, it seems, who are as interested in fighting for our churches, our Jesus-families, the institution that Jesus died and rose again to create. And I don't blame them. Because it's not easy. And we don't have the "blood tie" that makes the genetic family a unquestionable essential (or just makes us feel so guilty that we have to do something).
As I reflect on this, the consequence of neglect suddenly appears, simple and severe; we, in our over-land-and-sea efforts to win a single convert are in danger of making them twice as much sons of hell as ourselves. The problem with the Pharisees and religious leaders that Jesus was in constant debate with was not that they were evil, ill-intentioned villains knowingly parading as pious saints. It's that they were unable and unwilling to embrace and work at Jesus revelation of who God's people truly are and what they're supposed to be like together.
Time. Community takes time. Will we give it? Will we see it through? Will we keep celebrating even if sometimes if feels inauthentic or difficult? Will we keep respecting one another as we find out how unworthy of respect we sometimes are? Will we continue to empathize even when we feel misunderstood? Will we be committed to doing good even when it sometimes exhausts us, or when we feel like others aren't giving as much as we are? Will we vigorously seek to include all kinds of people, even as their addition reveals our prejudices and forces us to deal with them? Will we respect that all of this is going to take TIME? Maybe days...maybe weeks...maybe months...probably years.
But the end is nothing less that the what God is up to in the world. The creation of a people who look and smell and talk and act like Jesus...together. May we hold on and see the glory for which we labor. He has promised to see it through, and He is faithful.
Love in Jesus, the Risen One who pleads for us to keep going,
Rob
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
It Rained Grace
This past Thursday was the 5th Village Art Project meeting of the summer. In keeping with our C.R.E.A.T.E Community theme, we volunteers were prepared to talk to the kids about the "A" in our acronymn which stands for Action. After some good small group discussions about the Blood:Water Mission - the organization we chose to take action for, we were then going to collectively decide on a way to raise funds for this charity. After that we were going to learn "postermaking as an art form" and creatively communicate messages and important information regarding taking action on behalf of Blood:Water Mission. The big idea behind doing a night focused on action was/is to help these kids know that they can do good things for others, that they have something good to give.
So, the evening began with a drum circle (thanks to CMU and Mike List), where kids sat in a large circle with all sorts of different drums and percussion instruments and tried to make different beats, building off one another, so as to make beautiful music. Before we got too far into it though, the rain began to make its own music! Kids and adults scrambled to get under the two tents we have set up outside of Trailer #92. Change of plans...we gave each kid a piece of cardstock-like paper and each table a set of pastel chalks. Rob gave instructions for the kids to draw and color anything they wanted. I've never seen so much beautiful color on such a gray and dreary day! Rhyannen (7) drew an "X" on her paper from corner to corner and colored in each triangle section a different color. She called it "celebration" and said it made her feel happy - I couldn't help but smile. Many of the kids drew pictures of the rain - all different! Devin (15) drew the rain too, but his was from a different perspective. On his paper he meticulously drew one beautiful, large raindrop falling into a puddle causing a ripple effect. When Joann (9) was finished she came up to me with one of the most beautiful pieces of art I've seen her do so far. She had colored her entire paper with yellows and oranges and mixed the colors together by gently rubbing her hand over them. On top of that she drew simple, straight, vibrant lines of color: blues, reds, purples darting in all different directions. She called it "Explosion" and that's exactly what it made me think of when I saw it. There were many more that I did not get to see that night only to my loss. The art that these kids create is truly a reflection of the beauty they possess inside. I see how given time, love, energy, and the means to express themselves through art, they are beginning to value themselves and each other. One of their favorite things to do is to give positive feedback on each other's artwork! After pastels, we did some acting exercises that we have done in the past. The kids got to vote on whether to do the acting under the tents or in the rain. Guess which one they chose! I had to be getting home by the time acting began, but it was a beautiful sight to see the life in that community as kids celebrated and enjoyed having fun with each other in the rain!
From the volunteers' perspectives, I get the feeling that the rain was grace to us that night. Many of us, myself included, were feeling tired and distracted by the time we got there to set-up. Our prayers reflected the long days and weeks we were coming from. I know I personally didn't feel like I had the energy to engage in a semi-serious discussion about action with a group of adolescents. Usually in situations like these, people pray for the rain to stay away. I'm glad no one whispered that to God that evening. The rain was just what we as a team needed and I trust it's what those kids needed as well. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Christie
P.S. Next weekend (July 31st - August 1st) we will be taking a camping trip with kids and their families to Lake Michigan & The Sleeping Bear Dunes. It should be a lot of fun - please be praying for that!
So, the evening began with a drum circle (thanks to CMU and Mike List), where kids sat in a large circle with all sorts of different drums and percussion instruments and tried to make different beats, building off one another, so as to make beautiful music. Before we got too far into it though, the rain began to make its own music! Kids and adults scrambled to get under the two tents we have set up outside of Trailer #92. Change of plans...we gave each kid a piece of cardstock-like paper and each table a set of pastel chalks. Rob gave instructions for the kids to draw and color anything they wanted. I've never seen so much beautiful color on such a gray and dreary day! Rhyannen (7) drew an "X" on her paper from corner to corner and colored in each triangle section a different color. She called it "celebration" and said it made her feel happy - I couldn't help but smile. Many of the kids drew pictures of the rain - all different! Devin (15) drew the rain too, but his was from a different perspective. On his paper he meticulously drew one beautiful, large raindrop falling into a puddle causing a ripple effect. When Joann (9) was finished she came up to me with one of the most beautiful pieces of art I've seen her do so far. She had colored her entire paper with yellows and oranges and mixed the colors together by gently rubbing her hand over them. On top of that she drew simple, straight, vibrant lines of color: blues, reds, purples darting in all different directions. She called it "Explosion" and that's exactly what it made me think of when I saw it. There were many more that I did not get to see that night only to my loss. The art that these kids create is truly a reflection of the beauty they possess inside. I see how given time, love, energy, and the means to express themselves through art, they are beginning to value themselves and each other. One of their favorite things to do is to give positive feedback on each other's artwork! After pastels, we did some acting exercises that we have done in the past. The kids got to vote on whether to do the acting under the tents or in the rain. Guess which one they chose! I had to be getting home by the time acting began, but it was a beautiful sight to see the life in that community as kids celebrated and enjoyed having fun with each other in the rain!
From the volunteers' perspectives, I get the feeling that the rain was grace to us that night. Many of us, myself included, were feeling tired and distracted by the time we got there to set-up. Our prayers reflected the long days and weeks we were coming from. I know I personally didn't feel like I had the energy to engage in a semi-serious discussion about action with a group of adolescents. Usually in situations like these, people pray for the rain to stay away. I'm glad no one whispered that to God that evening. The rain was just what we as a team needed and I trust it's what those kids needed as well. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Christie
P.S. Next weekend (July 31st - August 1st) we will be taking a camping trip with kids and their families to Lake Michigan & The Sleeping Bear Dunes. It should be a lot of fun - please be praying for that!
(View Photos from the evening HERE.)
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Reflections on Community & Empathy
This year the Village Art Project meets at Lot 92 right in the middle of the Mt. Pleasant Mobile Home Village. This year I feel much more a part of the community. Being in the center of the neighborhood has contributed greatly to that. I feel like we have made our home amongst a wonderful and welcoming group of people. I feel like a neighbor and a friend and I feel like those around are my neighbors and my friends - our neighbors and our friends.
I was walking to my car this past Monday as the Village Art meeting for the night was winding down. I was on my way home to relieve the saint who was tending to my two small children while my husband and I were gone for the evening. I peered down the road as I was walking and saw someone I have talked to several times before. It appeared as though they moved into a new trailer so I asked if indeed they had, thus beginning a nearly 30 minute conversation. We were talking for only a few minutes before I realized what was going on in their life. They were transparent with me, not trying for a moment to hide their struggles like so many of us do day to day with those we consider closest to us. You see this neighbor has recently become unemployed and is dealing with grief over the loss of a co-worker and friend who passed away just this past week. To top that off they are expecting family who are travelling many miles to visit them and the hot water heater in their new home just bit the dust. I listened carefully as my friend tried to hold back the tears. Sadly, listening does not come easy to me. I am one who wants to jump in and help. Perhaps even to the point of subconsciously desiring to exploit such an opportunity for my own glory. But the Holy Spirit helped me this night. He helped me listen, calmly, carefully. I was focused on their words, tone, and expression. I felt their hurt and my eyes began to water. Even now as I sit here and type the tears are welling up. For a moment something in my heart felt what their heart was feeling. Because this person was open with me, I felt comfortable to share my recent sufferings with them - not being self-conscious about whether or not theirs were more important or more severe than mine (yet careful as to not make the conversation about me) - as if theirs being "more severe" made mine invalid. I was able to empathize and briefly open up about a few of my struggles as of late: my car dying, our refrigerator "biting the dust", and my grandmother passing away all within a couple of weeks. I was free to be a friend rather than thinking I needed to be a rescuer. Suffering is not easy to accept. In our world we are constantly trying to prevent and fix suffering because it is uncomfortable, thus my inclincation towards being a "rescuer". But Jesus entered into suffering before He removed it. Yes, He did remove suffering (and I believe there is a place for that for me as God allows and enables me) but I must remember that He is the Rescuer and I am not. I can however, enter in to a friend's suffering and offer them the hope of the One who one day will remove all suffering. I am grateful that I was free to be a neighbor that night and with genuine concern ask if there was anything I could do to help. It turns out there is something I can do to help. With that I am experiencing the blessing of being a giver rather than a receiver in this moment, even though at the same time I am receiving so much more by being privileged enough to give. I believe with all my heart that if I was in need this person would also ask me if there was anything they could do to help. I only hope I would be humble enough to say yes and accept their gift, so that they in turn would be blessed to be the giver and me thankful to be the receiver. God is at work in my heart. God is giving me more than I could ever have imagined as I get to know some of the beautiful people at the Mt. Pleasant Mobile Home Village. Barriers in my heart are coming down, walls are falling. My presuppositions, assumptions and stereotypes are slowly being replaced with mutual respect, friendship and love as I get to know our neighbors.
In closing, I am learning that a relationship without empathy is not friendship, and where you do not have friendship you do not have community. Where mutuality and respect do not coexist, you do not find community. I fear that in our society, what we call communities is nothing more than individuals who live within close proximity to one another only to exchange brief hellos and head nods as one arrives home and another departs. I feel like there is more I would like to communicate, but hopefully each one will take something of their own from these reflections (and all of our reflections posted) and hopefully be inspired and transformed by the Spirit so as to be more like Jesus. May God help us to take community seriously and live it out in every aspect of our lives, not just with our neighbors at the Mt. Pleasant Mobile Home Village. Thanks for reading.
Love,
Christie
I was walking to my car this past Monday as the Village Art meeting for the night was winding down. I was on my way home to relieve the saint who was tending to my two small children while my husband and I were gone for the evening. I peered down the road as I was walking and saw someone I have talked to several times before. It appeared as though they moved into a new trailer so I asked if indeed they had, thus beginning a nearly 30 minute conversation. We were talking for only a few minutes before I realized what was going on in their life. They were transparent with me, not trying for a moment to hide their struggles like so many of us do day to day with those we consider closest to us. You see this neighbor has recently become unemployed and is dealing with grief over the loss of a co-worker and friend who passed away just this past week. To top that off they are expecting family who are travelling many miles to visit them and the hot water heater in their new home just bit the dust. I listened carefully as my friend tried to hold back the tears. Sadly, listening does not come easy to me. I am one who wants to jump in and help. Perhaps even to the point of subconsciously desiring to exploit such an opportunity for my own glory. But the Holy Spirit helped me this night. He helped me listen, calmly, carefully. I was focused on their words, tone, and expression. I felt their hurt and my eyes began to water. Even now as I sit here and type the tears are welling up. For a moment something in my heart felt what their heart was feeling. Because this person was open with me, I felt comfortable to share my recent sufferings with them - not being self-conscious about whether or not theirs were more important or more severe than mine (yet careful as to not make the conversation about me) - as if theirs being "more severe" made mine invalid. I was able to empathize and briefly open up about a few of my struggles as of late: my car dying, our refrigerator "biting the dust", and my grandmother passing away all within a couple of weeks. I was free to be a friend rather than thinking I needed to be a rescuer. Suffering is not easy to accept. In our world we are constantly trying to prevent and fix suffering because it is uncomfortable, thus my inclincation towards being a "rescuer". But Jesus entered into suffering before He removed it. Yes, He did remove suffering (and I believe there is a place for that for me as God allows and enables me) but I must remember that He is the Rescuer and I am not. I can however, enter in to a friend's suffering and offer them the hope of the One who one day will remove all suffering. I am grateful that I was free to be a neighbor that night and with genuine concern ask if there was anything I could do to help. It turns out there is something I can do to help. With that I am experiencing the blessing of being a giver rather than a receiver in this moment, even though at the same time I am receiving so much more by being privileged enough to give. I believe with all my heart that if I was in need this person would also ask me if there was anything they could do to help. I only hope I would be humble enough to say yes and accept their gift, so that they in turn would be blessed to be the giver and me thankful to be the receiver. God is at work in my heart. God is giving me more than I could ever have imagined as I get to know some of the beautiful people at the Mt. Pleasant Mobile Home Village. Barriers in my heart are coming down, walls are falling. My presuppositions, assumptions and stereotypes are slowly being replaced with mutual respect, friendship and love as I get to know our neighbors.
In closing, I am learning that a relationship without empathy is not friendship, and where you do not have friendship you do not have community. Where mutuality and respect do not coexist, you do not find community. I fear that in our society, what we call communities is nothing more than individuals who live within close proximity to one another only to exchange brief hellos and head nods as one arrives home and another departs. I feel like there is more I would like to communicate, but hopefully each one will take something of their own from these reflections (and all of our reflections posted) and hopefully be inspired and transformed by the Spirit so as to be more like Jesus. May God help us to take community seriously and live it out in every aspect of our lives, not just with our neighbors at the Mt. Pleasant Mobile Home Village. Thanks for reading.
Love,
Christie
Empathy, emotions and the taking of brokenness
For the Village Art Project yesterday we talked about empathy; one definition is, "The capacity to know emotionally what another is experiencing from within the frame of reference of that other person, or the capacity to sample the feelings of another or to put one's self in another's shoes." We talked about how empathy is like walking in someone else’s shoes and trying to understand how someone else feels in different situations.
To practice understanding our emotions, for one of the projects the kids were given a list of emotions - happy, painful, hopeful, peaceful, rejected, forgotten, beautiful, overwhelmed, joyful, ignored, loved, angry, respected, helpless and understood - and they were also given a disposable camera. They were then asked to walk around the Village and take a picture of anything they think represents a particular emotion for them. It's amazing to listen to the kids talk about the pictures they took and why they took them. The unarticulated reality of their inner experience becomes exposed. The depth of who they are is accessed, and God's kingdom is somehow breaking-in through them. Unbelievable.
I decided today that I too need to practice emotions. I decided that I too don't always have the ability, at least to the extent I would like, to help other people "feel felt" and connected to me when they're with me. Generally, that comes from not knowing my emotions well enough. The following is my rendition of the project the kids did yesterday (give grace, please, I'm not much of a photographer). I used the same emotion words the kids used and took my own pictures in the Village.
Joyful
Love
Happy
Angry
Beautiful
Respected
Helpless
Overwhelmed
Peaceful
Hopeful
Painful
Forgotten
Ignored
Rejected
Jesus is our example of empathy because He did empathy to the fullest extent possible. He became human to experience everything we experience. Then, after He became empathy incarnate, he practiced empathy like only He could by taking upon Himself all of the pain and sadness and suffering there ever has been and ever will be. He then asks us to do empathy too and understand how much He loves people; how much He loves us. He asks us to try and love people the same way He does. Empathy, at least at some level, is about understanding where people come from and trying to feel what they feel, in order to love like Jesus loved.
To practice understanding our emotions, for one of the projects the kids were given a list of emotions - happy, painful, hopeful, peaceful, rejected, forgotten, beautiful, overwhelmed, joyful, ignored, loved, angry, respected, helpless and understood - and they were also given a disposable camera. They were then asked to walk around the Village and take a picture of anything they think represents a particular emotion for them. It's amazing to listen to the kids talk about the pictures they took and why they took them. The unarticulated reality of their inner experience becomes exposed. The depth of who they are is accessed, and God's kingdom is somehow breaking-in through them. Unbelievable.
I decided today that I too need to practice emotions. I decided that I too don't always have the ability, at least to the extent I would like, to help other people "feel felt" and connected to me when they're with me. Generally, that comes from not knowing my emotions well enough. The following is my rendition of the project the kids did yesterday (give grace, please, I'm not much of a photographer). I used the same emotion words the kids used and took my own pictures in the Village.
Joyful
Love
Happy
Angry
Beautiful
Respected
Helpless
Overwhelmed
Peaceful
Hopeful
Painful
Forgotten
Ignored
Rejected
Jesus is our example of empathy because He did empathy to the fullest extent possible. He became human to experience everything we experience. Then, after He became empathy incarnate, he practiced empathy like only He could by taking upon Himself all of the pain and sadness and suffering there ever has been and ever will be. He then asks us to do empathy too and understand how much He loves people; how much He loves us. He asks us to try and love people the same way He does. Empathy, at least at some level, is about understanding where people come from and trying to feel what they feel, in order to love like Jesus loved.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Empathy, as demonstrated by God
From Hebrews:
2:10 For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 2:11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 2:12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” 2:13 Again he says, “I will be confident in him,” and again, “Here I am, with the children God has given me.” 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. 2:16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants. 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 2:18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
I'm pretty sure that this is the ultimate show of empathy. For God, being the infinite Creator of everything, including all of us, to make himself like us, and not just like us but indeed the lowest of us, so that he might fully share in our experience, so that he might completely rescue us and have mercy on us, is nothing short of... something. "Amazing" doesn't do it justice. His love for us demonstrated by his willingness to suffer for us is completely unlike us. And yet, he places his Spirit inside of us, and that Spirit gives us similar desires as him on our better days.
In this he has given us an example of how to do empathy. By incarnating ourselves into the life of another (as much as possible), we demonstrate a godlike willingness to share that person's experience. This is very hard to do. I expend great amounts of energy optimizing my own experience. To step out of my life and into the life of another, a life that has not been arranged for the way I like things, indeed a life that may involve a lot more suffering than my own, is almost impossible. If it were not for Jesus, I would probably not do it, especially not for a long time.
With Jesus, however, it is possible, and many faithful Christians before me have done it. I can draw strength from the examples of people like Mother Theresa, Jean Vanier, the staff of Word Made Flesh, and, most notably, my own friends. Though I believe it is possible to do incarnational empathy because of Jesus alone, I'm guessing that it's only possible to do it long-term and well if I do it together with a supportive community of fellow children of God.
Check out our pictures here from this week's VAP.
Check out our pictures here from this week's VAP.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Respecter of Persons
My dad is not an educated man. In fact, he barely graduated from high school. His senior year, he had skipped so much that he didn't have enough credits to graduate. So he transferred to a school in Pensacola, FL, where his sister and brother-in-law lived. According to Florida State requirements for graduation, he had just enough. They mailed him his diploma from a high school he never even set foot in.
He was always full of advice, though, straight from the "Dan Kaiser School of Hard Knocks," as he called it. If you "register" in time, you might just be able to sit in on one of his "Backyard Seminars." He'll invite you to relax in a lawn chair on the back porch and will tell wild stories from his past over a cold beer. These are some of my favorite nights at home.
I can remember riding in his brown S-10 truck, my little brother and I, on our way to the beach one summer afternoon while mom was working. I was 9. "If you two never remember anything else I say, remember this: Treat others how you want to be treated." Later that afternoon, we had stopped at a little grocery store to get drinks and snacks for the ride home. As we parked in the alley next to the store, a woman slipped and fell as she walked across it. My dad rushed out of the truck and over to her, knees bent to the ground and a hand stretched out toward hers. He did his best to live out his advice in front of his kids.
In a culture where education and "makin' it" are the goals of American life, my dad is lacking. But not in the Kingdom of God. As Peter tells us in Acts 10, God does not play favorites.
Peter at first cannot understand why Cornelius, a leader within the Roman Army, and not a Jew, would want to meet with him. But it is God who instructs both men to meet, and they do. Cornelius receives the Holy Spirit while with Peter, and is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right," Peter says. (Acts 10:34-35)
When word spreads to Judea, Peter is criticized by fellow Jews for eating and drinking in the house of a gentile. But Peter recounts to them what the Lord had said to him in a vision: "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (Acts 11:9) When Jesus died on the cross, a sinless man taking the punishment for all the sins of mankind, those considered "unclean" where now acceptable to God. Educated, uneducated, black, white, male, female, diseased or healthy, it didn't matter. God's chosen people were no longer his "only" people. And that is something to celebrate!
I pray that all of us would remember what an amazing God we serve, that because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are accepted in a kingdom where elitism has been abolished. All hail King Jesus!
Love in our Gracious King,
Jess
See photos here from our 3rd week, themed "Respect".
Friday, July 2, 2010
Celebration (and recognizing the reign of God in unexpected places)
My heart is full! What a blessing to be in the Village last night. Beautiful weather, beautiful people, beautiful projects (links to pics at the end of this post). And the kingdom of God growing all around us.
We've been learning this week about celebration and its centrality to the life of the people of God. Contrary to what most folks on the street might think, Christians ought to be quite the party animals! We're a faith rooted in celebrations of the past (think the Exodus, reframed and reimagined in the Eucharist/Lord's Supper, or the Pentecost/Festival of Weeks/Shavout reinvigorated by the coming of the Spirit) and a people whose daily lives together ought to be marked uniquely by that same spirit of celebration. That's what's going on when Luke describes the early church meeting together daily, sharing meals from house to house, eating their food with exuberant rejoicing (the NKJV's "gladness" does no justice to the Greek word behind it) and singleness of heart, selling their possessions and giving their excess generously. Why? Well, in part I think it's because they recognized that the most important work was already done. In the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the Kingdom of God had been distinctly and very certainly inaugurated. Things were different than they were before, and God had invited them to begin living and inviting others to experience the "joy of their Lord".
But we're not good at celebrating. And we've got all kinds of reasons for that...even "spiritual", Christian-sounding reasons. We're so often suspect of folks who seem to be having too much fun, who are too positive, who are too open with their comments of thankfulness and joy. What the heck is that? Insecurity, fear, doubt, misunderstanding, depression...what is it for you? What is it for me?
So we decided that we'd lay those things aside this week and have a party! Last night we cheered for people...just for who they are. We celebrated simple things like scissors (think how hard life might be without these ingenious simple machines!). We played "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on birthday noisemakers (should have recorded it!). And we told each other how glad we were to be together. Oh yeah...and we had cupcakes, because what's a celebration without cupcakes?
Sound simple? Trite, maybe? Childish? It's not. It's the reign of God, taking root in a place some folks would never expect it.
Actually, the kingdom's been present there for a long time, in secret places and in not so secret places...it's mostly just that our eyes are being opened to its invigorating, freeing presence. The Kingdom of God is slowly but surely overtaking the Kingdom of Rob, the Kingdom of Kevin, the Kingdom of Vanessa...and in a lot of ways, we couldn't be happier for the overthrow!
Love to each of you (whoever you might be:-) in the humble King!
"People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:15-17
Find pictures here.
We've been learning this week about celebration and its centrality to the life of the people of God. Contrary to what most folks on the street might think, Christians ought to be quite the party animals! We're a faith rooted in celebrations of the past (think the Exodus, reframed and reimagined in the Eucharist/Lord's Supper, or the Pentecost/Festival of Weeks/Shavout reinvigorated by the coming of the Spirit) and a people whose daily lives together ought to be marked uniquely by that same spirit of celebration. That's what's going on when Luke describes the early church meeting together daily, sharing meals from house to house, eating their food with exuberant rejoicing (the NKJV's "gladness" does no justice to the Greek word behind it) and singleness of heart, selling their possessions and giving their excess generously. Why? Well, in part I think it's because they recognized that the most important work was already done. In the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the Kingdom of God had been distinctly and very certainly inaugurated. Things were different than they were before, and God had invited them to begin living and inviting others to experience the "joy of their Lord".
But we're not good at celebrating. And we've got all kinds of reasons for that...even "spiritual", Christian-sounding reasons. We're so often suspect of folks who seem to be having too much fun, who are too positive, who are too open with their comments of thankfulness and joy. What the heck is that? Insecurity, fear, doubt, misunderstanding, depression...what is it for you? What is it for me?
So we decided that we'd lay those things aside this week and have a party! Last night we cheered for people...just for who they are. We celebrated simple things like scissors (think how hard life might be without these ingenious simple machines!). We played "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on birthday noisemakers (should have recorded it!). And we told each other how glad we were to be together. Oh yeah...and we had cupcakes, because what's a celebration without cupcakes?
Sound simple? Trite, maybe? Childish? It's not. It's the reign of God, taking root in a place some folks would never expect it.
Actually, the kingdom's been present there for a long time, in secret places and in not so secret places...it's mostly just that our eyes are being opened to its invigorating, freeing presence. The Kingdom of God is slowly but surely overtaking the Kingdom of Rob, the Kingdom of Kevin, the Kingdom of Vanessa...and in a lot of ways, we couldn't be happier for the overthrow!
Love to each of you (whoever you might be:-) in the humble King!
"People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:15-17
Find pictures here.
Friday, June 25, 2010
It has begun!
It's good to be back in the Village.
As we gathered last night to reflect thankfully on a crazy and energizing evening , I was struck by how different this all feels than last year. As we talked and prayed, it became clear that the main reason is that we know people. Lots of people. We can walk around and greet folks by name, asking about things in their lives, their kids, their jobs, and they do the same to us. Last weekend we showed up to take a couple kids to get ice cream and we wound up walking about 10 of them to McDonald's (after we and a bunch of their parents pooled all our available cash)! The difficult, patient work of building relationships, of becoming friends and neighbors, is happening. And it's great.
We talked this week about the idea of community and connection. As we gathered on Monday evening for our "family night", we looked at a number of Biblical passages that speak about the reality of our connection in Jesus - the fact that when we're re-created in Him, when we come to Jesus in faith, we're born again into a new family: the family of those who know and love God. The reality of our connectedness is something we can experience both positively and negatively, it's something we can embrace or avoid, but it's something we CAN'T escape. Paul calls that idea as silly as a foot saying to the rest of the body to which it's connected, "I'm not a part of you!"
So we're dedicating our summer to living into this reality with joy. And we're going to be learning from and with our neighbors how to be community, how to be family, well. We thank you for joining with us by your interest and your prayers.
Love to you in Jesus.
ps. See pics from last night via the links in the post below!
As we gathered last night to reflect thankfully on a crazy and energizing evening , I was struck by how different this all feels than last year. As we talked and prayed, it became clear that the main reason is that we know people. Lots of people. We can walk around and greet folks by name, asking about things in their lives, their kids, their jobs, and they do the same to us. Last weekend we showed up to take a couple kids to get ice cream and we wound up walking about 10 of them to McDonald's (after we and a bunch of their parents pooled all our available cash)! The difficult, patient work of building relationships, of becoming friends and neighbors, is happening. And it's great.We talked this week about the idea of community and connection. As we gathered on Monday evening for our "family night", we looked at a number of Biblical passages that speak about the reality of our connection in Jesus - the fact that when we're re-created in Him, when we come to Jesus in faith, we're born again into a new family: the family of those who know and love God. The reality of our connectedness is something we can experience both positively and negatively, it's something we can embrace or avoid, but it's something we CAN'T escape. Paul calls that idea as silly as a foot saying to the rest of the body to which it's connected, "I'm not a part of you!"
So we're dedicating our summer to living into this reality with joy. And we're going to be learning from and with our neighbors how to be community, how to be family, well. We thank you for joining with us by your interest and your prayers.
Love to you in Jesus.
ps. See pics from last night via the links in the post below!
First Event
The first week of The Village Art Project started out with Bang! or a Splat! Splatter Paint that is. Before the event, the adults painted a VERY large canvas black, created a frame, and mounted the canvas onto the frame. Then the older group of kids (ages 7-16) got to use all kinds of paint, spray paint, brushes, spoons, silk flowers, etc to splatter the paint onto the canvas. Lots of fun and it turned out great!
Next we went over the rules and then announced the theme of this summer's project: CREATE Community. We will be discussing 6 keys to create an awesome, thriving community by the acronym CREATE: Celebration, Respect, Empathy, Action, Time, and including Everyone. Next week we will talk about Celebration and of course do art related to that theme!
The second project was to experiment with pastels on a small 4X6 canvas, using colors and shapes to describe themselves. After they were able to create, we sat around in a circle while all the kids got a chance to explain their art and receive positive feedback from the group. These canvases will be used later in a different project.
The third project was Paper Making! Tearing up bits of different kinds of paper, cotton, tissue paper...dumping that into a blender with lots of water and pureeing....adding bits of "flare" (glitter, dried flowers, string)...pouring it all into large bins of water....and using window screens to lift new paper out of the water!! The kids will use this paper in a future project as well.
The younger age group (ages 3-6) began creating all kinds of shapes, animals, etc using colorful pipe cleaners. Next, they used Play-do and finished up the night with bubbles and a snack!
http://www.facebook.com/album.phpaid=20276&id=100000250195806&l=3fe1b20355
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2428598&id=21710397&l=d9f6ec2da1
Stay tuned for next week!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Coming Soon!
We welcome ages 3-16 every Thursday, 6:30-8:30pm.
There will snacks, prizes, and opportunities to create amazing things and have fun! We can't wait!
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