The Spirituality of The Blues

I find that some of the music of the blues shares a profund insight into the experince of the Holy. It is a viseral, intimate, get-down-in-the-dirt recounting of the experience of God.

Here are the lyrics for When Love Comes To Town - Written by U2 and performed by U2 and B.B. King

I was a sailor
I was lost at sea
I was under the waves before love rescued me.
I was a fighterI could turn on a thread but I stand accused of the things I've said.
When love comes to town I want to jump that train when loves come to town I want to catch that flame.

Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down but I did what I did before love came to town.
I used to make love under a red sunset I was making promises I was soon to forget.
She was pale as the lace of her wedding gown but I left her standing before love came to town.
When love comes to town I want to jump that train when loves come to town I want to catch that flame.

Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down but I did what I did before love came to town.
When I woke up I was sleeping on the street I felt the world was dancing and I was dirt beneath their feet.
When I looked up I saw the devil looking down but my Lord he played guitar the day love came to town.

I was there when they crucified my Lord I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword.
I threw the dice when they pierced his side but I've seen love conquer the great divide.
When love comes to town I want to jump that train when loves come to town.
-U2

So what is your story before love came to town? Who were you before you grabbed hold of the experience of God?

Just a thought,
P.C.

What Do You Thirst For?

Jesus said "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within them." (John7:37-38)

I would suggest that there is in all of us a thirst for an experience of The Other. Our soul yearns for refreshment that can only come from God. Yet, we try and try again to get by with only that which we can provide ourselves. It is analogous to drinking from a stagnant pool that has no source of fresh water coming into it. We get sicker the longer we block the true source. Our resources dwindle.

As we enter more deeply into this time called Lent, allow the floodgates to be opened and invite the Holy Spirit to fill you... refresh you... renew every cell of your being with God's Presence.

Just a thought,

P.C.

Poetry of Hafiz - A Sufi Master

To Build A Swing

You carry

All the ingredients

To turn your life into a nightmare-

Don't mix them!

You have all the genius

To build a swing in your backyard

for God.

That sounds

Like a hell of a lot more fun.

Let's start laughing, drawing blueprints,

Gathering our talented friends.

I will help you

With my divine lyre and drum.

Hafiz

Will sing a thousand words

You can take into your hands,

Like golden saws,

Silver hammers,

Polished teakwood,

Strong silk rope.

You carry all the ingredients

To turn existence into joy,

Mix them, mix

Them!

Hafiz reflects my idea of what church should be about: Using our collective genius to build a swing for God so we can celebrate together an existence of joy.

Just a thought,

P.C.

Contemplative Prayer

It feels at times that we are constantly bombarded by noise, both externally and internally. It is hard to hear the Presence of God because of the percussive cacophony. How can anyone be expected to find restoration for the soul when there is so much dissonance? Contemplative prayer is an opportunity to just be.

In contemplative prayer "we move from communicating with God through speech to communing with God through the gaze of love. Words fall away, and the most palaple reality is being present to the lover of our souls. When we let go of all effort to speak or even to listen, simply becoming quiet before God, the Spirit is free to work its healing mysteries in us: releasing us from bondage, energizing new patterns of life, restoring our soul's beauty. Here we allow ourselves to be loved by God into wholeness.

Such communion with God is an end in itself, not a means to another end, however good."
Marjorie J. Thompson from Soul Feast.

New Items

I have added a couple of new things to this blog. One is a connection to podcasts of sermons and worship. If you like to listen rather than read the sermons you can either sit at home with a cup of joe and listen using your computer, or you can send the podcast to your IPod or mp3 player and take my voice anywhere. Kinda scary. Go There Now.

I have also added a section I am calling "Expand Your Faith Awareness." I will be adding different websites that offer video vignettes of people talking about faith and spirituality. Check out Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason. I am hoping that you might watch a video that triggers a deeper level of thought reagarding your faith. Perhaps we can discuss your thoughts via this blog or meet with a small group to explore further.

There is also a new section called "Spiritual Classics" which is a collection of audio podcasts of the "greats." An electronic library for your spiritual growth and edification.

Just a Thought,
P.C.

A Little Help!!!!!

This year, I have the honor and pleasure of participating in MDA's DeWitt Lock Up 2008 to help "Jerry's Kids®". To reach my goal I need your help! I'd like to include you on my list of contributors who are helping me reach my goal. Your donation would help MDA continue the important fight against muscular dystrophy. Check out my web page by clicking on the link below. There you'll find all kinds of information about MDA, and be able to make your tax-deductible donation on-line using your credit card.

MDA serves people in our community with neuromuscular disease by providing clinics, support groups, assistance with the purchase and repair of wheelchairs, braces and communication devices, and summer camp for kids. MDA also funds research grants to help find treatments and cures for some 43 neuromuscular diseases that affect people of all ages, right here in our community. I sincerely hope that you'll take the opportunity to support MDA. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me.

On behalf of the families MDA serves, thank you!

Click here to visit my Participant Page.

If the link above does not bring you to my Participant Page, cut and paste the address below into the address bar of your internet browser.

https://www.mdaevent.org/ParticipantInfo.aspx?j=22f0abc0-ec1b-4a8e-b2f3-2c54b1be01fe

Body and Soul

Romans 5:1-11
"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

I just got back from a workout at the Rec Center - a little biking, a little running, a lot of sweating. Since the summer of 2006 I have been training for and participating in triathlons: Sprint and olympic distances. What that means is swimming either a half mile or mile; biking either 12.4 miles or 24.8 miles; and finishing with a run of either 3.1 miles or 6.2 miles. One right after the other. My youngest son, Keegan, inspired me with his efforts in that realm. I was also inspired by my older son, Jesse, who was running a half-marathon and my wife, Sue who had run an 11 mile race. I have done races with each of the boys and the three of us raced in the Des Moines Hy-Vee Triathlon (olympic distance) in June of 2007.

To be honest my competitive nature kicked in and that is why I wanted to race. Well... they raced and I survived.

But it has given me hope. Hope born out of suffering and enduring and a change in my character. I am still competitive but against myself more than anything. I have lost weight and know that my physical health has improved. But more importantly I have used the time that I workout as a time for meditation and prayer. It clears my thoughts and opens my soul for the possibilities that the Holy Spirit offers.

Consider a way to exercise both your body and soul. Let it be an experience of God that gives you hope.

Just a thought,

P.C.

With or About?

“Theology has to do with culture because theology has to do with living religiously, which always takes place within the culture. Theology, by its very name, makes the great assertion that we can express a logos (word or reason) about a theos (God). Theology means talk about God, because it is first possible to “talk with” God, or to encounter revelation about God. Despite the airy claims of some theologians, then, there is no theology apart from life in the world, from life in culture.” Tom Beaudoin, Virtual Faith

I would suggest that we (The Church) have too often moved away from “talking with” God because we have for too long set ourselves apart from life or culture. We have in general stopped talking with God (and listening for God) as worship and ministry have moved more toward talking about God. Many I think crave an experience of rather than more knowledge about God.

Two subtle words perhaps, with and about, however, they were integral to Jesus’ ministry. Jesus lived in the midst of the culture and lived the concept “with God.” Tension arose when the Pharisees, Sadducees, and disciples attempted to talk about God without being with God, the disconnect most obvious as the people they encountered immersed in the culture were neglected, even denigrated.

Perhaps the experience of God we crave is to be found not in one great hour sheltered behind the opacity of stained glass windows but in moving beyond the walls of our supposed cathedrals to be with all of God’s creation.

Just a thought,
P.C