More Tragedy, More Celebration, More Death, More Life.

• A young singer - Christina Grimmie - killed by a lone gunman
• Gatherings of the church continue with grace, love and reconciliation being sought
• Another mass shooting - a single gunman and many people hurt and killed, confusion
• Celebrating a friend's birthday
• Prayers for a friend who lost his father suddenly and a retired Choir Member who died this weekend
• Prayers of deep thanksgiving for a friend's first born son, and for other friends who are pregnant and expecting...

In the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph is told in a dream to flee with Mary and Jesus, and they flee to new life - and then - Herod slaughters the innocent children. Tragedy! While the Holy family is safe, other families mourned their children. Did those children's families feel God's presence? Do we?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Ethics, said ""This love of God for the world does not withdraw from reality into noble souls detached from the world, but experiences and suffers the reality of the world at its worst. The world exhausts its rage on the body of Jesus Christ." Andrew Root, in his book The Promise of Despair,  says about this quote - "Here I was presented with a Jesus who was found not in pastures of noble perfection, which my classmates in college and I had been chasing. Here was something quite different: a Jesus who was found first not in prayers and moral perfection, but in death, in suffering, on the cross."*

Do we expect "pastures of noble perfection" or things to go the way we want them to? Is that which is perfect for us perfect for others? Of course not - yet, when a day like today comes along, I ask - what do I expect? For the world certainly seems to be raging again! If that rage is exhausted on Christ, then where is God in all of this now? I believe - down in my most innermost being - that God is still here, with us - in all of this. For as Root points out, we have been given a Jesus who was willing to suffer and die on the cross for us. This is love and grace, God truly being "with us."

God is here - have I let the things of humanity obliterate my sight so that I do not see or hear God? It is easy to be diverted by sensational events and unexpected pain! Yet - Jesus came to die, in suffering, on a cross, and knows our suffering and pain. Jesus - risen from the dead - knows and brings us joy - expectation of hope and new life! The world's rage cannot keep us from living with God, in Christ, in hope and in joy. That joy is something which is deep, appreciative, and thankful - even in times such as these.

God is with us - with all who are in pain, suffering and in love and expectant joy. And when we struggle to hold on to that, when we feel like we cannot - we pray for each other, drawing deeply for strength to practice mercy, love God and neighbor. In that community of prayer, we are blessed to receive God's mercy and love - gripping the grace of Christ, even and most particularly when the world is raging!

I pray that the hope and grace that is promised to us in Jesus Christ fills your hearts and minds, and renews the life within you. I pray Christ's peace for you - the deep abiding peace that passes all understanding - that comes from knowing God is with us - even on days such as this...

 *quote from Root, Andrew. The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church (Living Theology) . Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Today, I am thinking about how we walk as church together. So frequently I hear and see church members from all over mourning the loss of families or youth in their churches. So I turned to a paper I wrote in Seminary and revisited how we walk with children in their faith development. Some of my comments come from the coursework at the time, many of them come from my earlier education courses in college and my experience in working with children in churches and choirs throughout my professional career as a Director of Music.

This is based on a Reflection I wrote in Seminary titled: What was key to my faith development and how can I(we) respond or assist those in those stages now?

 Conversation on this will be welcome. 

My family, my environments of neighborhood, school and church were key influences in my faith development.  In James W. Fowler’s book, “Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian,” he speaks of key developmental stages of faith.  Here - I address Stage 1: Intuitive-Projective in my life, and I consider how I (or we) might address or respond to others who are in these stages now.  Many adults are at different places in their faith journey.  Some of us treat children as if they are small adults on the same faith journey, but children have a developing awareness; their ability to process the world around them is quite different from an adults.  Ultimately, we need to nourish the relationship of children and adults in our communities of faith in all stages of development.

James W. Fowler speaks of the Intuitive-Projective Stage in his book, referring to children in this stage (age 3 – 7 roughly) as having an “inquiring mind” that will “never again be so fresh and free of preformed constructions as it is at this early age.”[1] I remember walking in the desert with my family, watching sunsets, catching fireflies and looking at the stars in the night sky. We learned that our Creator made snakes, coyotes, insects, the soil, weather patterns and cacti.  I have deep long lasting memories of liturgical worship, the mystery and wonder of God becoming man at Christmas and the celebration of Easter from those years.  I still remember the luminaries everywhere at church and around El Paso, to lead the Christ Child to our homes.  Fowler is right on for me. During this stage, I formed deep and long-lasting images that have held together my “worlds of meaning and wonder.”[2]  

As we work with children in any place, but especially in church, it is important  to strive to reach each child on multiple levels: listening, seeing, touching, or experiencing or combinations of all of these! This will assist them in this stage of their life – their learning – their growth. To teach young children ages 3 – 7, it is very effective to create an appropriately colorful, interesting, tactile and symbolic environment for them. Use colors, sound, visuals such as pictures, multi-media - things children can touch, feel or hold.  Create an interactive environment they recognize as one designed for them - with chairs they can reach to sit in, activity stations and a timed series of activities that changes just ahead of their shorter attention spans. It is wise to speak of things other than just your church’s things, so they know you are aware of their world outside of church! 

Excursions around the church can be innovative ways for the children to touch, move and be immersed in a group experience.  We once let every child snuff out a candle at the end of our opening for Sunday school, and then we all closed our eyes and listened to the silence for 5 – 10 seconds. (We used an adult supervised, appropriate sized candle and snuffer of course!) Afterwards, each child spoke in one or two words what they were thinking or heard or felt. There was no wrong answer – one little boy shouted out “dragons!” It is not about making the children behave like small adults, but in giving them tangible experiences to hold on to, to build on. This can help them stay open to experiencing worlds of meaning and wonder in many places - to receive the Word, the wonder of God's love.

This happens when the adults of all ages in a church take time to work with children. Whether you have children, grandchildren or no children – the environment of people caring and willing to reach out to each child in this developmental stage is important for the child to grow, to be willing to reach out and respond. One of the best ways to assist children in these stages of faith development is to spend time with them, get to know them and thereby have a base line to recognize faith development or stage transitions when they occur. That takes intention – taking the time to schedule this into our busy lives - in this we bring Christ to the children.

Do you wonder what is happening to families in the church? A lot of things – there is not one answer as to why you may see fewer children or youth. Some of the children or youth we see have plenty of growth stimuli at home, some have none. Some of them have only 1 parent or they have 2 parents working hard to keep the bills payed with no time to even read to their children. Some parents do spend time with their children, and some don’t take the time when they have it. I suggest we don't worry about that, certainly we must not judge that! Every person of every age who walks in our doors is a gift from God. Let's invest some of ourselves in them, that we might open up and receive them as Christ’s community. Why would we expect a child or anyone else to open up to us – if we are not willing to open up to them? We might be the only reflection of God’s love and grace that they meet. 

Stage 2: Mythic-Literal – coming soon…

---

[1]Fowler, James W. Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian.  Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, PB Printing, © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. San Francisco, CA. p. 42

[2] Fowler, ibid. p. 42

Unity - How do we do that?

Recently, I had the delight of being a part of God's people in action, thinking of others first, living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ, intentionally giving of ourselves and what we have, to live out our faith serving others - as the human race. This, this is what we should be doing every day of every week - all the time, proclaiming God, being centered in Christ, and thinking of others first. We gathered to love God, love neighbor.

I was blessed to serve as a co-music director for a Unity Service in Aiken, SC that was held Sunday, August 9^th, sponsored by the Phoenix Project. You see, a local church, Glover Grove Missionary Baptist Church, burned down June 26th. While the cause of the fire is undetermined, the members of this church of brothers and sisters in Christ were left without a meeting place, and members of our community came together - acknowledging that we are all in this together, we help each other, what should we do? A temporary meeting place was quickly found for Glover Grove to continue worshiping, and as people began to talk about how to help, the Phoenix Project was born. John Lindsay, a resident of Aiken, SC, chairs this committee. The purpose and intent of the Glover Grove Phoenix Project is first, to assist and support the rebuilding of the Glover Grove Missionary Baptist Church in it's time of need through a variety of community-based strategies, and second, to come together as community leaders and diverse congregations of faith to make a positive and lasting statement about the values of Aiken and its citizens.

One of our Pastors, Pastor Bob Byrne, serves on the Phoenix Project, and I was invited along with others to help plan the music for the Unity Service. It was a real joy to serve as a Music co-leader with Fred Williams – Music Minister of Second Baptist Church as well as with his son Emmanuel Williams, pianist extraordinaire and Joyce English, the excellent organist and colleague from Aiken’s First Baptist Church. And of course the 75 voice choir made up of area choir members was outstanding!  

The Unity service was hosted by Aiken's First Baptist where local ministers, choir members, musicians and several hundred brothers and sisters in Christ gathered as Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptist, Non-denominational, Disciples of Christ and Christian Methodist Episcopal friends. It will remain in my mind as a snapshot of a portion of the great cloud of witnesses - people of different skin color, backgrounds and vocations, united in purpose. The Holy Spirit blessed us greatly, as we incorporated our diverse worship styles in a basic framework that resulted in awesome worship with brothers and sisters from different cultures and denominations coming together - centered in Christ.

We heard God's Word proclaimed - simply God's Word from Gospel and Epistle - and prayers that bound us to God and to each other. These diverse people from our community gathered in faith and said "we are unified in Christ!" It was thrilling to watch the Clergy process - called by God with all of the congregation to come together to worship God, thank God, glorify God and celebrate God's gifts to us as community.

We rejoiced that as of August 9th, $140,000 of the needed minimum of $200,000 has been raised to rebuild Glover Grove Missionary Baptist Church! We gave thanks and glory to God that Samaritan's Purse provided for the cleanup of the property as they await a time to rebuild. We heard from Ministers that spoke of God's blessings, of our work in the Lord and how we can prayerfully go forward. Sunday, in worship and after - it was clear that our unity as human beings is very important to the Aiken community as we seek how we can walk together and live out the faith we proclaim - regardless of our skin color or our cultural backgrounds. This is a starting place to build more bridges, and find ways to take care of one another. 

This effort is a foundation upon which we can build a healthier and stronger community. Being centered in worship first at this service has not only helped Glover Grove but has given us a foundation upon which to stand to have conversation about our divisions - including racism and other forms of prejudice, and how we confront it! We confront it centered in Christ - in the glory of God's coming to us, and by beginning conversations that strengthen our community. That began in the process of planning, in the service and after - where we all shared faith stories and backgrounds. 

In the rehearsal before worship, we saw the tension in our choir members faces as they strove to merge differing approaches to music together - which went very well. We saw the tension leave and such joy and worship on their faces as they sang from their hearts, minds and souls in worship! The congregation responded in kind - with enthusiasm and beautiful, mindful, intentional singing! 

There was also elation at the end of the one hour service, with people staying after to talk, and create crosses as a gift from all of us to the Glover Grove Church for their new church building. As one choir member said - "I found this to be a profound experience. It was deeply moving and I am so glad I was there!" Another said "This is the way we are meant to be - one Lord, one body." We were church at that service, and oh how I pray we will use this as a place from which to build a more unified community that only builds others up, without tearing anyone down. 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says "Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing." Amen!

On days like this - it is such a gift and blessing from the Lord to have moments to sit back and say "Thank you, Jesus! We are family!" Now, we walk forward...beginning with prayer, and intention - with open eyes to look for opportunities to love God, love neighbor. Or maybe as my Lutheran catechism instructors taught me - "to be as little Christs..." 

Kenosis - Thanks John David!

Kenosis----that whole self-emptying business whereby Jesus is seen in all his humanity and the self-emptying business whereby the world sees in Christians a reflection of the Christ's divinity. We ain't got no time for it, 'cause it's about what pleases us. By Rev. John David Bryant (Thanks John David!)

A reflection about why we struggle with the concept of Kenosis.

Our society (U.S.A.) is based on capitalism. Capitalism is defined by Merriam Webster’s online dictionary as: “an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.”

An “economic system” is a system that is concerned with describing and analyzing the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. That is how many of us see “the economy” of our country today. We look at costs and profits, and we find the bottom line. Profit means we have money to gain, and the higher the profit, the more successful we consider ourselves. We all need food and money for clothes, etc. And we all have concerns about providing for ourselves and our families. So right off the bat, capitalism can become something that taps into those needs, guiding us to look inward – how can this benefit “me?” But as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. As Christians it is not about looking inward, but looking out in love, acceptance and with humility – in a world that tells us to take care of “self” first, in order to benefit the “self” first! Is it any surprise that we are having trouble emptying ourselves?

The definition of capitalism also tells us this is a system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods. This is tricky for many of us – for as Christians, we know we don’t “own” anything – everything in the world, in the universe is a gift from God. We have responsibilities that come from being stewards of all that God gives us, but again – if we buy into our culture’s social system and treat it as a belief system – we are at odds with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we buy into that particular definition of capitalism, (as a belief system) then we believe all of us have the right to own the goods of this world.

Matthew 6:19 – 21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Greek word used for heaven in this passage from Matthew is Ουρανός. In English, it is ouranos – which means sky or heaven. When that particular form of the word “heaven” is used in the Greek language of the New Testament, it is used in place of saying the Holy Name of God. So verse 21 might better read but store up for yourselves treasures with God...

We work, live and breathe in a system today that tells us that we own our world! So, in order to be successful, our system tells us we must look inward first. However, following Christ, we see all of creation is a gift from God, and that we should only treasure the things that we can return to God – such as loving God above all others and loving neighbor – which includes all of creation. How do we reconcile our culture’s belief system based on false ideas of ownership and rights that are not ours – when as Christians, Christ calls us to love God above all else, and love neighbor?

Maybe we cannot empty ourselves because we do not know if we are God’s or part of an economic system.

I am not saying that capitalism is bad, but how we view it, how we take it into ourselves and sometimes even make it part of our religion – that is something that threatens our very existence on so many levels – physical, emotional, developmental and of course – spiritual!

We can live anywhere and follow Jesus Christ. It is not always easy, but the way to do that IS Kenosis! By learning to empty ourselves of all that is around us – including focusing on ourselves first, we can then fill ourselves up with Christ - which means we are letting in the love of God who comes to us. This is the radical message of love that Jesus Christ brings to us. This is something that we all benefit from, when we make time for it!

Then - we can view all of the systems around us through a more objective lens. For everything, including the systems we devise, are derived from what the Creator of the Universe has given us. Then we might see more clearly.

And the minute we forget, or claim ownership, we are empty of Spirit – for we have let go of Christ and claimed something else for ourselves first.

Think of it this way – who or what do you love more than yourself. Is it your parents, your spouse, your children or maybe your best friend? If you cannot think of at least one person who you love more than yourself in this world – then you are probably the most important thing in your life. Ok – hold on – because, that means that you probably do not see all the people around you who love you more than life itself. You might be missing out on loving them and being loved!

How do we walk away from ourselves, to get some perspective – to look at ourselves to we see what we are missing? We step outside of ourselves and empty ourselves of “self” for at least a moment each day – to let Christ in. Then Christ’s divinity can come through and we are not the system, not the explanation, not the science – we become the vessel of God’s love – and that my friends, is one of the most powerful and beautiful gifts God has given us.

Then, we truly begin to live…

I just got home from an ecumenical conference – the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology’s yearly Pro Ecclesia conference titled: “Remembering the Reformation Together: Commemorate? Celebrate? Repent?”

Some of the presentations and discussion invoked conversation on how we acknowledge pain, hurt - ask for forgiveness and be intentional in how we try to repair the pain of all the damage so many of us have done by asking for, receiving and/or granting forgiveness. Do we celebrate or commemorate? 
One of the phrases we heard this year was “always begin with prayer.” This conference begins and ends with corporate prayer; it is sustained throughout by prayer – in ways that keep us all focused on Christ. Yet, we know that much divides us. So we work to avoid damage, and build relationships and understanding - striving towards the goal of unity. The presentations were terrific, the conversation great and when I woke up this morning – the lack of unity in this world slapped me square in the face!

9 dead in Charleston, two of them alumni from the Lutheran Seminary I attended, one of them someone I knew at seminary – a kind, intelligent brother in Christ who also serves in the State Government – he had a servant’s heart, truly! And every one of the other 8 victims is just as missed, as lost to us as he is. 

My fire went out for a bit, but through the tears and grief for Charleston, for these families, I thought what can I do? And the words from the conference came – “always begin with prayer.” So I prayed, and I have been urging others to pray – through facebook, through conversations, through my prayers. 

Those 9 people will not be brought back through our prayers – but as so many of us were praying today, the suspect was captured. As we continue to pray, others are speaking out from many cultures and faiths and saying, “Not again! What can we do?” In prayer we are in conversation with God. We cry out to God for wisdom, but why is it so easy to sit and be stumped instead of staying awake for God’s response? Why do we cry out for revenge instead of justice? What is justice? Why can’t we get up and gather together to listen and stand together?

Is it because we have convinced ourselves that when something bad happens, it is someone else’s business? That only works until the bad times visit you! Is it fear of people who look or smell different, or have more or less authority? God forbid, will I have to stand with someone who lives a lifestyle that I strongly disagree with? If so, what does that say? 

First - Maybe we break away because we are scared, or we are traumatized, or hurt, or confused, or sick and because we are broken. For many of us, admitting to others that our lives aren’t socially acceptable (whatever that means in your world) is the last thing we will do. So we either pretend it’s not our problem or we sit in this pool of pain and anguish – you know - where it’s easy to sit and moan. We all do it – some of us are very skilled at sitting back.

Second – what do I mean with the questions about standing with someone or disagreeing with someone? Well, standing with someone as a human being doesn’t mean you condone any of their choices/issues/errors, etc... any more than it means they condone yours! This is not an endorsement of someone’s lifestyle or job skills on their part or yours. What we are endorsing is that we are part of the same human race - we are human together.

Maybe we don’t know what to do when someone is hurt or sick or determined to hurt someone else. We think there is security in laying low. And often, if it isn't comfortable, maybe we feel justified in laying low - instead of getting involved. Besides, you might ask - I can't really do anything, can I? But there is something we can all do – reach out to them, talk to them. Invite them to stand with the rest of us as a human being. Let them know someone cares because they are in pain. You don’t have to know someone well to say “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

As a Christian, I believe that God is with us in our circumstances. You and I might not agree on how that happens, or on the name we use for God – but consider this: If you believe there is an almighty creator of the universe, then let’s stand together and pray. 

And if you don’t believe in God, would you mind standing with me while I pray? Then tell me when or how I might stand with you… let’s reach out for that unity. Let’s talk.
R. I. P. 9 beautiful brothers and sisters in Charleston, SC
Your sister, 
Kathleen

The blog name - Struggling Spirit - comes from reading Martin Luther's Works "Sermons on the Gospel of John" Chapters 14 - 16. Luther speaks about the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Truth and reminds us that Christ tells us "The Spirit of truth will guide you into all the truth." As he talks about the struggles and grief that Christians face, he reminds us that the Holy Spirit has the power to guide us and to bring us truth. He also speaks of how the Spirit will continue to convict us in our hearts as sinners, still full of weakness - yet God's dear children and saints. This is often referred to using the Latin Simul justus et peccator - simultaneously just (saint) and sinner.

I feel this sometimes as a struggle within my spirit, because of The Spirit. So to reflect the "both/and" of that statement - I named the blog Struggling Spirit.

These are my thoughts - sometimes they will be framed within a theological construct, and sometimes appearing as I experience them - which may appear random, and objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear.

Struggling Spirit - struggling in the Spirit, or struggling because of the Spirit? Let's see...