:: in.a.mirror.dimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

We’re moving at the end of April to little house on the Western edge of Arlington, VT. It’s in a nice little place with a few neighbors dotted about, a river nearby, and the former home of Norman Rockwell two miles down the quiet dirt road. We have plans to tear up the gray carpet in favor of laminate and will certainly take down the funky paneling in favor of paint, using colors that I have appropriately obsessed about for two months now. Will Robert Carter Plum work in the office by the way???

With the exception of finding out the home had been swept away in a flood, I am trying to think of something else that would be as devastating as the news I received yesterday about our new home. Perhaps rodent infestation would be worse, but it’s close. Anyway, I found out that Verizon’s DSL is not available that far out of town.

My heart sank when I heard the news. I didn’t talk too much about it with Julie because this only verifies (in my little suburban mind that is) what I’ve been saying all along and what she disagrees with consistently: we are moving into the middle of no where.

That’s technically not true. We have neighbors. The town has a name. There’s a store three miles down the road. But for me the availability of high speed internet is no longer a nice perk. It’s a birth right. I must have it. And now I’m bitter at the state of Vermont for dragging its feet over high speed internet. 2010 is too long to wait. I feel like I’m on the brink of entering the stone age again.

My salvation took the form of Comcast. Though I despise the term “Comcastic,” my need for high speed internet trumped any other uneasiness about lousy marketing campaigns. I called Comcast, assuring them that cables were sticking out of the walls all over the place. Then the second bomb dropped, doing far greater destruction:

“That may not be a serviceable location for high speed internet,” the Comcast lady said.

“But, there are cables, many of them, at the house,” I replied.

“I’ll have to look into this. I’ll call you back.”

And now I wait by the phone, praying to God and the Comcast lady to make our new home serviceable for high speed internet even if it’s overpriced and poorly marketed.

I’ll do it. I’ll do anything. Just don’t condemn me to dial up.

• Sex Offenders Test Churches’ Core Beliefs - New York Times
  This is an important issue for all churches to consider as prison populations increase. It seems having a policy in place ahead of time helps, but even then there will be problems.
  (tags: church, christianity)
• Tominthebox News Network: Bob Jones University Starts “ThySpace” for Students
  Very funny, but it’s sad that there are Christians out there like the Bob Jones crew who are bound by so many rules. Kind of sucks all of the fun out of knowing Jesus if you spend your life worrying about so many details.
  (tags: christianity)
• TallSkinnyKiwi: Is mission the mother of theology?
  A good discussion on mission and theology. I’m not so sure it matters what came first, but only that theology and mission need each other.
  (tags: missional)

The other day I noticed a large crack on the passenger’s side of my wife’s car. White scuff marks surrounded the crack, showing that someone must have given our little Saturn a good wack . . . and then run for it.

The problem was that someone with a white vehicle had recently parked nearby my wife’s car. Tire tracks in the muddy road led us to believe this person, who we knew of but did not know personally, bumped the car and then ran for it.

We tracked down the contact information and I prepared to call this person the next day, fretting all the while of calling someone to make such an accusation. It was really, really unpleasant.

And then I remembered what I was reading in the book of Samuel. If my life was a Veggie Tales episode, this is the part where Junior Asparagus would hop out and deliver a pep talk complete with a cheesy little, foot-tapping song.

Throughout the stories of Samuel, Saul, and David there is a consistent theme of surrendering situations to God and then waiting for him to work it out. It sounded like a horrible plan in my situation. I preferred to just get worried about my upcoming phone call. Read the rest of this entry »

• Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | Face to faith
  A nice article by NT Wright. Just don’t bother with the comments. They’ll ruin your day. I’m warning you …
  (tags: christianity)
• Rockin Church Website Tips : Church Communications Pro | Church Website Design | Church Marketing
  (tags: web+design , church)
• YGo Soothing 1.0 | Theme viewer
  Check out this theme by clicking on test run on the page. I’m digging it.
  (tags: web+design)

When I look at Jesus throughout the Gospels, I see him challenging  uptight religious practices and freeing people to enjoy God through his healings, sermons, and dinner parties. Surely he calls his followers to costly discipleship, but the way to follow God is not the austere, stodgy way of the Jewish leaders.

Jesus challenged the guilt and legalism that infected the people of God. His mission was to make it possible for people to actually enjoy God once again. That’s not to say he took sin lightly and will let his followers run amok–not in the least.

I see Jesus breaking God out of the religious mold. He didn’t just heal or preach in the synagogue. He prayed at all hours of the day. He instituted a meal at the center of Christianity.

In the end, he made God accessible to all people. He wanted a relationship with God to be as natural as an evening at home with one’s family. I hear him saying, “Relax. Now follow me.”

Relaxing does not mean we become apathetic. We relax in the peace that God brings and offer ourselves to him out of that calm place he has given us.

Technorati Tags: Jesus

Almost everything we own that can be boxed is now sitting in wine boxes all over our home, including our extensive collection of books. It’s funny to live with most of your possessions boxed up. Oddly enough, I don’t feel like we’re roughing it or missing out on a whole lot.

Of course there are moments when we wish this book or that book was readily available, but on the whole, it is helpful to see how peripheral most of our possessions truly are. a few good books, rabbit toys–lest they chew all of our furniture to pieces, and some essential plates, pans, and pots generally meet our needs provided we have a table and some chairs about.

I am also shocked at the number of things I’ve purchased simply because I could. This is where clutter comes from. Take garage sales and church rummage sales. Cheap items beckon with their petite price tags and I fall for them. While cleaning out a closet last night I began tossing sweaters and pants into trash bags to donate them to local thrift shop. Most of what I ended up carting off was stuff I’d bought on a whim at ridiculously low prices.

And as gratifying as it is to buy stuff, it may feel even better to get rid of stuff. Not only are we living simpler, cleaner lives, we have given things away, the best antidote for consumer culture. If only we could remember that when we go shopping.

Technorati Tags: moving - consumerism

• The Manchester Journal - Caterpillars not likely to be back this year, expert says
  Woo Hoo!! We’ll finally have a decent fall this year!
  (tags: vermont)
• BBC NEWS | Europe | Pope decries ’slaughter’ in Iraq
  I’m glad somebody in the Christian circle is using the global stage to make a statement against the Iraq War.
  (tags: news)
• Pope Benedict XVI - Roman Catholic Church - Easter - Keeping the Faith - Russell Shorto - New York Times
  A great article about the pope’s agenda. For example: “The mistaken conviction that reason and faith are two distinct realms has weakened Europe and has brought it to the verge of catastrophic collapse.”
  (tags: christianity)

• The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional « (e)mergent Voyageurs
  (tags: missional)
• If No One Reads Your Blog, Does Disclosure Matter? at The Blog Herald
  How you blog when no one is reading . . .
  (tags: blog)

Eva, our Easter spokeswoman, wants you to have a restful Saturday before Easter Sunday.

• » Top 10 Church & Religious Websites
  It’s interesting to see what other churches are all about, not to mention how they approach design. What does a church’s web site say about the Christian community there?
  (tags: church christian web)

I attended a Good Friday service today. It was a small gathering at a local church following a traditional liturgy. While the service wasn’t exactly what I find edifying on a regular basis, the paced scripture readings with moments of silence and an old hymn in between was a perfect way to pray and think of the Crucifixion.

There is something powerful about sacred space and the comfort of settling into an orderly liturgy. Though liturgy can also be suffocating, there are days such as Good Friday where it can be a tremendous tool in connecting with the Lord. Just walking into a relatively quiet church did so much to pull me out of my busy life and set my eyes on the importance of Christ’s sacrifice.

Traditional church services still suffer from their share of limitations, but today I found myself grateful that there are still sanctuaries set aside as a sacred meeting space and traditions that can be readily put into practice.

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• Subversive Influence » Blog Archive » Missional Charismatics
  We need more ministry like this.
  (tags: missional)
• under the canopy
  Healing really does happen today. A very similar healing happened to me>
  (tags: christianity)
• The Complex Christ | Signs of Emergence: [Grid::Blog::Via Crucis 2007] Game Theory: Jesus Loses | The End of Strategy [3]
  An interesting take on Paul.
  (tags: theology)
• FreeCycleBenningtonCounty : FreeCycle of Bennington County Vermont
  I have a new way to waste time . . .
  (tags: vermont)
• Jesus Creed » Missional in Seattle 3
  Good thoughts from Scott on mission and the Gospel, but I wish he wouldn’t throw in words like “eikon” and perichoretic. Precise and accurate they may be, using those words without explanation makes it hard for many to jump right into the conversation.
  (tags: missional christianity)
• OEIL PUBLIC
  Cotton as the suicide crop in India.
  (tags: justice)

In revisiting the story of Samuel, I’ve been mulling over the account of his first meeting with God. The gist of it is: God calls, Samuel eventually says, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening,” and then God speaks. “Enviously simple” is how I describe this meeting.

When I attempt to mimic Samuel, I often begin prayer with his line, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” Such an approach, however, deviates from what happened in Samuel’s case. Samuel’s famous line came after God wanted to speak something specific to him and had already initiated contact. In other words, God’s message to Samuel was not initiated by Samuel’s willingness to listen, but rather God’s desire to speak. Only then did listening matter.

Though Samuel’s story should not be our blue print for prayer any more than the best-selling prayer by Jabez, I think this story highlights some of the dynamics of prayer and why we are sometimes frustrated with God. I often think that stopping long enough to listen merits some kind of response from God, a virtual flood of messages and important stuff from the Almighty. There is no set pattern, but it’s safe to say that on many occasions I’m not bowled over by a pressing revelation.

On the other hand, I have had incredible moments of prayer that crept up unexpected and unsolicited. Walking, driving, sitting, working, doing just about anything or nothing and I hear something from God. That is the crucial moment to stop and say, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

All that is not to say we should give up on planned or scheduled prayer. The scriptures say nothing of the sort. Prayer took place at set times all over the place. Nevertheless, there is a humbling that takes place when we realize that we cannot make God speak to us.

Just as Samuel lived in the tabernacle, we are able to live in the presence of God. We can prepare our hearts to hear from him. We can seek him out. And when he does speak, we will be prepared to listen.

• Ex-Aide Details a Loss of Faith in the President - New York Times
  Let’s face it, power corrupts. Does the president have too much power in America? Possibly. This aide echoes my own sentiments. I was really ticked at Clinton because I felt like he had no integrity. Now I feel the same way about Bush. Sometimes politics
  (tags: politics)
• U.S. Churches Go ‘Green’ for Palm Sunday - New York Times
  It’s ironic that rich Christians can actually exploit poor Christians and the environment in order to practice a religious observance. Thankfully our religious practices are catching up with the true heart of God. I’d like to take a palm branch to the hea
  (tags: church justice)
• Pastors’ Wives Come Together | TIME
  I’m glad somebody is addressing this.
  (tags: church christianity)
• Google Press Center: Press Release
  plumbers and computers unite . . .
  (tags: news)

“I’m too busy” is a common complaint in our high-tech, high-octane, high-stress society. Schedules are booked, days are frantic, and nights are packed. The way to manage a hyperactive, hyperproductive society is to reshuffle the deck, deal out a new plan, and play the game at a faster rate. Speed, maximized organization, and discipline are paraded as the answers to this oppressive pace.

Stop.

Stopping is the first step in curing this malaise. Instead of stepping up the pace on the hamster wheel of life, the weary must stop, if only for a moment, and disconnect from the never-ending circle of priorities, commitments, and schedules. A daily break from the demands of our lives grants perspective and forces us to prioritize.

Caught up in the never-ending whirl of life, I recently found myself enslaved by to-do lists and the tyranny of the urgent. Therefore, instead of giving up candy, coffee, or meat for the season of Lent, I have made it a goal to take a walk every day.

I needed the exercise, but that wasn’t the only reason. I need to pray, but my problems extended beyond a lack of prayer. I essentially needed to NOT do something for a small part of my day. A quiet chunk of time provides time to refocus and sometimes helps me hone in on what’s most important.

Such an approach runs counter to logic. You mean more can be accomplished by taking time to do nothing? Precisely. In fact, stepping back to do absolutely nothing may be the most productive thing many people do today.

Technorati Tags: time - schedules - priorities