A Calling to Create

Posted by Shelly Habecker

One of the things I love about living in Washington is meeting and being friends with people here who are doing all kinds of amazing things to change the world. Many people come to this city to improve policies, shape legislation, and create programs to help people both domestically and internationally to have a better quality of life. Along these lines, last Sunday at church, I was encouraged and inspired to learn more about what so many in our own community are doing in their jobs as international development workers. The projects they are working on tangibly seek to enable God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

As I listened, though, I found myself asking where I fit in God’s kingdom work. Actually, I have been asking this question for a long time. When I first came to Washington, I, too, sought out employment that focused on projects designed to help people to get better jobs, better housing, and better opportunities. Later I found myself drawn back to research and writing in an academic context, and ever since, I have been searching for language to help me make sense of this vocation.

Then this week I stumbled upon Madeleine L’Engle’s book Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, and I find myself encouraged and inspired by what she has to say about a calling to create.

All of us who have given birth to a baby, to a story, know that it is ultimately mystery, closely knit to God’s own creative activities which did not stop at the beginning of the universe. God is constantly creating, in us, through us, with us, and to co-create with God is our human calling. It is the calling for all of us, his creatures, but it is perhaps more conscious with the artist – or should I say the Christian artist? (p 81).

The work I spend my days doing is not art in the traditional sense of the word. I don’t paint or sculpt or write poetry or play an instrument. I am a social scientist, an anthropologist – I listen to people’s stories and try to make sense of the particulars of their lives in order to understand broader truths, the larger story, of how cultures and communities change and what that means about who we are and who we are becoming. This is my art. And I love what Madeleine L’Engle has to say about this:

To serve any discipline of art … is to affirm meaning, despite all the ambiguities and tragedies and misunderstanding which surround us (p 27).
Stories, no matter how simple, can be vehicles of truth; can be, in fact icons. It’s no coincidence that Jesus taught almost entirely by telling stories, simple stories dealing with the stuff of life familiar to the Jesus of his day. Stories are able to help us to become more whole, to become Named. And Naming is one of the impulses behind all art; to give a name to the cosmos we see despite all the chaos (p 46).

I love this notion of serving the discipline of art – that somehow by getting up every day and working on my research and writing that I am serving the work of art, telling the stories, God has given me to Name.

I know that there are other artists (however defined) in our community, and I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this calling to create. In addition, I would love to hear about other types of callings. I am delighted by the diversity of the body of Christ and want to know more about what the different parts are doing as we pray “your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Highly Recommended

Hi all,
Wanted to share a couple of things that I've enjoyed this week. IF anyone's in NYC in the next 10 days or so, head up to Columbus Circle to the Museum of Biblical Art and see the exhibit there on the prodigal son. Really powerful. Works from medieval tapestries to modern sculpture and an incredible collage of the prodigal son story set in Texas. Worth a trip.

Also, the book Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity, by Barna Group president David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons is really enlightening (or at least the first 2/3, which I have read, is). I think all Christians would benefit from reading this and reflecting on the authors' exhortation to repent of ways we each contribute to denigrating or muddying Jesus' core message of love. Thought-provoking. Ultimately encouraging.

Posted by Cary

Singing Tomorrow’s Song. . . Today in Bangladesh

posted by Lauren Sable

Our community has been reflecting intensely on Sunday nights for some time now on the coming of the Kingdom and how it is not just a future reality, but something that is occurring now in the present. Our Sunday series has enabled us to not only be reminded of this truth, but to develop stronger theological underpinnings to enable us to live more consistently into this truth in our own lives and with our vocations. We know that we have a role to play in this ongoing work and can be agents of change.

As I walked out of the Dhaka airport on Monday and took in my first sights of Bangladesh, I was instantly reminded of an environment I have only experienced once before. People – everywhere. For those that have not had a chance to travel to this part of the world, the volume of people around you that your eyes can take in within one view is really quite amazing. With every sense, you are reminded that this is a land where people scratch out an existence. Of all the countries I have had the privilege of traveling to in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, - India and Bangladesh are completely unique in this regard.

As we slowly drove from the hotel to the office crawling through the congestion, there were incessant knocks at the car window from beggars. One little girl about nine or ten years of age was considerably persistent. She knocked with her face pressed against the glass, calling out to me at one red light for five or ten minutes and following along to repeat her persistence at the next one. For anyone that has ever traveled overseas, we know that begging is the norm and part of the fabric. It’s typically an issue first timers overseas struggle with and then soon adapt to it. Sadly, I am usually immune to it. Of course the begging makes me sad, but I accept it as a reality. This day, however, whether due to this child’s persistence, the length of time she knocked at the window, or a sensitivity of the Spirit, my analytical brain kicked in as she knocked, returning me to fundamental questions.

What am I supposed to do in this moment? Right now, what does transformation and service look like for this child? How can the Kingdom be brought to her, here and now, given the nature and short circumstances of the moment? My primary lens for supporting transformation is through the work I contribute to in international development. If this child lived in one of our programming areas, addressing her poverty, whether physical or spiritual, would have a framework. Under this framework, there is hope for transformation of systems and structures, changed relationships, income generation possibilities, education and health care. But this was one child in need on a corner, knocking at a window. Her need was evident and there was no chance to address her poverty through my daily work.

According to World Vision’s (and St. Brendan’s) biblical understanding, the harsh reality of social and physical poverty calls for "justice, generosity, and acts of conviction and compassion." But what do these look like in a given moment. How can we discern how to act in a sea of infinite need?

Jesus himself must have encountered this sea of need as he walked the roads of Palestine. He urged people to “knock at the door”. Perhaps there were not car windows, but the multitudes did:
o push into him
o touch the hem of his robe
o cry out beside pools of water and open gates
o send servants with urgent requests to come
o scrape at the roof

We can read the stories of the specific moments in which he responded, but there must have been countless other requests. Palestine was a poor and oppressed land where like Bangladesh, people also scratched out an existence. In the midst of his longer-term mission, as he was confronted with endless needs, what did faithfulness look like in each of those moments?

The next morning, I joined with some Bengali colleagues around a table for devotions. World Vision staff around the world share the same devotional book, though we all progress through it at different paces and use the book differently. The title of our book from last year is something like Making the Most of the Rest of Our Lives and the title of the day’s devotion was “Singing Tomorrow’s Song . . . Today.” The devotion focused on the subject of hope. Participating with National Office staff in devotions is always a privilege as I hear them interpret scripture and make sense of God’s call in light of their social and cultural settings. In particular, we spent much time on the phrase, “Hope is tangibly practical.”

“Hoping boldly in the midst of present problems. Hope is tangibly practical. Rather than distracting us from the pains of the present, hope motivates us to deal with them. It is our privilege to lift up the signs of tomorrow’s certainties in the midst of today’s uncertainties. Followers of Christ are empowered by the Spirit towards what is good, and they can be found at the center of today’s solutions.”

We know it is true, but making hope tangibly practical in given moments is a challenge. How do we possibly make a future reality (i.e. God's Kingdom coming) a present reality? How do I answer a call to "justice, generosity, and acts of conviction and compassion" and make the future hope a present reality to a little girl I encounter for 10 minutes who is following my car in traffic? I know we can all rattle off appropriate theological and practical responses. “It was too short of a time span to do anything. You have no local currency yet. You don’t want to perpetuate a dangerous situation where children beg in traffic. She probably works for a mafia boss who will take what I would give her anyway.” These statements let me off the hook and build immunity to the areas in which I think we are called to wrestle and groan as Christ’s body in the midst of a hurting world. The bottom line is: Although it should be possible to bring the Kingdom in the moment at hand, none of my analysis in those minutes of knocking revealed something that would actually work.

I offer no solutions here. The purpose of this blog is to say to my community that I want us and need us to keep wrestling with questions like these as we explore the Kingdom and focus this year on its practical application. Let’s not conversationally apply easy, thematic spiritual truths to contexts without wrestling with what it means to make them a reality. Personally, I need folks to strive with me and submit with me before God, asking him in his mercy to show us how we can sing tomorrow’s song today. To show us how to be people of justice, mercy, generosity, compassion, and conviction in the world’s most broken places so that we can truly be signs of the Kingdom and sources of hope in the midst of pain.

God, lead us that we may stand firm in faith for justice. Teach us love, teach us compassion. Above all, out of love and compassion, teach us to act. Amen. -St. Brendan’s Common Prayer Liturgy (prayer from the Iona Community)

Epiphany and TS Eliot

On this day, January 6, we celebrate Epiphany. What better way (besides corporate worship and Eucharist (bread for the journey)) than to settle down with a warm coffee or hot tea, and take a slow read of "The Journey of the Magi" by TS Eliot. It begins

"A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey..."

The rest is here http://www.blight.com/~sparkle/poems/magi.html

posted by Bill

Not necessarily belligerent but great nonetheless

In the spirit of Bill's list of co-belligerents and Laura's suggestion of the conference, I have a few favorites of late to share:

http://www.wreckedfortheordinary.com/ (often provocative, which is a compliment!)
http://www.theotherjournal.com/ (out of Mars Hill Grad School)
http://www.burnsidewriterscollective.com/ (my friend Penny is social justice editor, and I like what they're doing)
http://www.zoecarnate.com/ (amazingly long and good list of "Jesus-infused" sites)

I'm too new at St. Brendan's to assume that all will be interested but I think you'll find some nuggets here.

Also, I attended two conferences at Mars Hill Grad School in 2007. They were life-changing, and I could not recommend them more highly. Learn more at: http://www.mhgs.edu/conference/schedule.asp

(Brief testimony -- "Leadership Crucible" is a chance to "lead" in a very creative, cyber-world, in Seattle, for several days and be critiqued and encouraged, in real time, about your leadership style. Based on Dan Allender's book LEADING WITH A LIMP.

"Story Workshop" is based on Dan Allender's book TO BE TOLD and is about learning to love all the aspects of your life story and thus making all of it available for God's purposes in your life --"grieving your losses in the company of those who will help you reframe them."

Finally, just watch this for goosebumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA
I love the idea of how often we fail to see our own glory even when it's there! Watch this as a metaphor for how we see ourselves vs. how God sees us. I'm taking liberties here but in any event, you will be introduced to Paul Potts. I like his story.

Cary

Stereotypes Straining Because of Integration

This from one of John Stott's study assistants....

Two global conferences I attended in the last couple years exemplify this division. In July 2004 I attended the “Global Institute of Theology” in Accra, Ghana, sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. While the Institute had the appearance of being directed by non-Western leadership, the content and teaching of the Institute was driven almost entirely by one ideological concern: trade, development and globalization. Even as a concern to discuss evangelism, personal conversion, or spiritual warfare was expressed by participants, these concerns were sidelined by the overwhelming focus on issues of trade and development.

At the Younger Leaders Gathering, there was again the impression of non-Western participation in the planning and leading of the event. But this time, rather than being driven by a concern for trade and development issues, there was an almost exclusive focus on world evangelization and personal conversion. While the conferences were vastly different in their agendas, they both suffered from being far too influenced by the Western ideological division that has so profoundly shaped the Western missiological project over the last 100 years.

But the most remarkable thing of all was that at each of the conferences I encountered non-Western Christians who could have easily been a part of either. Again and again these non-Western Christians defied my ability to categorize them. Were they evangelical or liberal in their priorities? I discovered that they were both and neither. They had a deep concern for many of the things that American evangelicals care about: biblical faithfulness, evangelism and conversion, sexual and moral standards and purity, the centrality of Jesus, spiritual warfare and the activity of the Holy Spirit. Yet they also had concerns about things which are not often discussed at a typical American evangelical conference: fair trade, the environment and conservation, rights for women, a deep aversion towards war, even resistance to global capitalism. Was this a case of confused priorities? To the contrary, it appears that as Christianity flourishes in environments beyond the historical baggage of Western Christianity, our non-Western brothers and sisters are re-discovering a more balanced form of “evangelical” Christianity that we have neglected.

From http://theotherjournal.com/article.php?id=207
posted by Bill (h/t Cary)

The Artist & The City

St. B's community,

I'd like to invite you to consider attending Image Journal's July 2008 Glen Workshop, the foremost meeting place of creative thinkers (artists, musicians, readers, moviegoers, etc.) of faith. Last year's conference was covered by PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, so this year's spots are bound to go fast. The Image staff and community are outstanding. I'm really hoping I'll be able to go this year, and it would be great if others might join me!

Here is some information, plus a link to the website:

The theme for the week, “The Artist and the City,” will provide a focal point for discussion. What is the relationship between the believing artist and the public square? This question raises fundamental issues about the way faith and culture interact. In North America believers have often felt that they must address the world through proclamation, the assertion that others should acquire what we already have. But art works differently, involving both its creator and audience in an act of common discovery. As the theologian Henri de Lubac once said: “Truth is not a good that I possess.... It is such that in giving it I must still receive it; in discovering it I still have to search for it....” How might the artist's quest to understand what it means to be human influence the way church and society address one another?

http://www.imagejournal.org/glen/08/index.asp

Thanks!

Laura

Friends of StBs, and co-belligerents!

There’s great joy in introducing good friends to good friends. One way or the other, these are some of the folks St. Brendan’s is connected to or whose work we want to further by highlighting them. It’s hardly an exhaustive list, but it sure is encouraging when taken together.

Google away!

St. Brendan’s in the City is a grateful daughter community of The Falls Church in Northern Virginia, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and gladly submitted to Christians in the 'majority world' through the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Some of us had a part in founding the Kairos community, and are glad to be a sister to that community. We find deep theological roots in the work of Bishop NT Wright and the Reverend John Stott and Pope John Paul the Great, and increasingly Dalls Willard.

We find deep spiritual nurture through the contemplative website offered by the Irish Jesuits at Sacred Space, the Henri Nouwen Society, Jean Vanier and L’Arche, Ruth Haley Barton’s ministry of The Transforming Center, and Renovare.

We’re grateful to redemptively engage this hurting world with Word Made Flesh, a sort of Missionaries of Charity for young Protestants, and especially their communities in Bolivia, Calcutta, and Sierra Leone. A very important servant of justice is our dear friend and long partner, the International Justice Mission. We continue to share in the labor of loving Washington DC through the Southeast DC Partners and Central Union Mission among others, including deeply appreciating the ministries of L’Arche in Washington, Christ House and Columbia Road Heath Services, and the Servant Leadership School of the Church of the Saviour.

St. Brendan’s is deeply committed to relief and transformational development, manifested in our support and partnerships with the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, World Vision, and Five Talents International.

It’s a crazy American culture we live in, and Andy Crouch at Culture Makers, Catapult Magazine, the Center for Public Justice, and the Washington Institute help us make sense of it and learn how to engage it.

As best as we’re able given the strangeness of our metro Washington DC context, St. Brendan’s is all about intentional community among the poor for the sake of Jesus. So we count as friends and inspiration Circle of Hope in Philly, the Simple Way, Urban Neighbors of Hope, and Rutba House and their identification of the New Monasticism. It’s not particularly urban (!), but L’Abri has had a huge impact on us.

We're glad for these friends, and co-belligerents for the Kingdom. We look to God to lead us to our unique contribution to this wonderful list of his agents.

I'd love some responses to this post, sharing more people and ministries and communities we should be aware of, inspired by, or are already connected to that I left out.

posted by Bill

A Template of Meaning

I’m big on “the day after” as opposed to the anticipated holiday or the big event. I’ll take a random Tuesday over a holiday anytime, and I particularly love December 26 and January 1.

Traditionally I spend time on New Year’s Day looking back at journal and calendar and checkbook to see where the year went and what it all meant, with the hope of “doing better.” And sometimes I do (better); sometimes not.

But this morning I chanced upon the “praise” section of my 2007 journal and reread it, meditating on some of the names of God I had clung to this year and some of the ways He had manifested Himself in my life. I have renewed gratitude for those (and awe that He meets me so specifically). And in the names, I saw patterns.

There is a book of “Then and Now Bible Maps” in which there is a printed page and then a clear page that goes over it to show changing boundaries, new place names and how the maps reflect history. Today I was able to look at my year with an overlay of God’s names and roles in my life as the template that made sense of the reality, the lens through which it should be properly viewed. And that brings comfort and hope… that the disparate events, people, crises, joys, challenges, travels, encounters, readings, prayers and hopes of 2007 were not random or haphazard but, instead, functions of God’s movement and will in my life.

A major highlight of 2007 was healing in some key relationships, and I see that a Wonderful Counselor, Healer, Great Physician was responsible.

The River of Delights provided road trips, adventures, epiphanies, tears over beauty, moments of joy, feasts and reunions this last year.

I see that I faced specific instances of adversity, fear, worry, and uncertainty with one who trains me for battle and provides armor. He was a Shield where I can take refuge, a Rock, a Fortress, and Deliverer.

At times when I was lonely (stunned from having been hurt by or having hurt others, or just longing for deeper companionship than earth always provides), I had a Friend, although I rarely welcomed Him as “Sufficiency.” At other times I see how God sent specific books, thoughts, verses, experiences or even people (closely connected or one-time messengers) as manna that got me through a day, sufficient indeed.

Paths were made smooth so my ankles wouldn’t turn; my way was flooded in light and guidance. Discipline and rebuke sought to save me the trouble of wandering into minefields or digging my own, ultimately empty cisterns.

I see where the Holy Spirit was Librarian and Tutor, where God’s presence was an Abba’s lap, where Jesus was Guide in ways that surprised and intrigued and, yes, even irritated in the call to follow. But mostly I see that 2007 was from Him, and He was present – as opposed to the year being some random, haphazard series of events on the way to a someday, somewhere, somehow experience of finding God and His will.

Posted by Cary Umhau

St. Stephen's Day

The day after Christmas, St. Stephen's, has an easy way to remember the first Christian martyr, and more importantly, connect with God in light of the example of Stephen's life and death. Take a a long slow read of Acts 7, meditate on it, then offer this prayer from the Book of Common Worship....

Gracious Father, who gave the first martyr Stephen grace to pray for those who took up stones against him: grant that in all our sufferings for the truth we may learn to love even our enemies and to seek forgiveness for those who desire our hurt, looking up to heaven to him who was crucified for us, Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Prayer and a Poem on Christmas

From the BCP

Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

"Second Advent" from WRLH

The hour is near, be not afraid
Though the final moment seems long delayed
Though tears and blood in oceans shed
Be not afraidThe one who in truth already dead
Is Satan, staggering still with heel crushed head
The world waits for this apocalypse, the new revelation
The second advent of the risen Son
When we with angels and demons both
Look back and proclaim that “God has won!”

More than just Lessons & Carols

Tonight those of us who remain around DC will gather, focus on the Advent of Christ, and retell the "meta-narrative" through Hymns and Scripture. We will use the old English Lessons and Carols Service, whose main them is the development of the loving purposes of God seen through the windows and words of the Bible.

The opening (or "bidding") prayer follows.

Beloved in Christ, in this season of Advent our care and delight is to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the angels: in heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, and the Babe lying in a manger.

Let us read and mark in Holy Scripture the tale of the loving purposes of God from the first days of our disobedience unto the glorious Redemption brought us by this Holy Child; and let us make this Chapel, glad with our carols of praise:

But first let us pray for the needs of his whole world; for peace and goodwill over all the earth; for unity within the Church he came to build:

And because this of all things would rejoice his heart, let us at this time remember in his name the poor and the helpless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed; the sick in body and in mind and them that mourn; the lonely and the unloved; the aged and the little children; all who know not the Lord Jesus, or who love him not, or who by sin have grieved his heart of love.

Lastly let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore and in a greater light, that multitude which no human can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in this Lord Jesus, we for evermore are one.

Individuals may offer up other prayers and request to God at this point.

These prayers and praises let us humbly offer up to the throne of heaven, in the words which Christ himself hath taught us:

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Almighty God bless us with his grace: Christ give us the joys of everlasting life: and unto the fellowship of the citizens above may the King of Angels bring us all.

If you're away this week and want to take in the full liturgy, shoot me a note and I will send it along.
~Royster Wright

periphery

Greetings, St. B's friends...below, from the Bauman clan, an advent offering. God be with you all.


Three days journey more
This City of Bread
We ascend.
Our nourishment,
Your soul,
Stretched fragile
Against blue collar sky;
Our sojourn,
Your will,
Rhythmed
By weary breath,
Burdened
By Middle Eastern sweat.

All the while
History exhales
Its last gasp
And waits
Your holy
Resuscitation.

Yahweh,
Respire these lungs
Blanket this shiver
And kindle this revelation
But stay not your advent:
Undress Your glory
Slip on human skin
And pitch your tent
Among us—

We who hunger
Who thirst
Who dwell
On the periphery

Come.

simplicity & etc.

hi all,

i had an intriguing/challenging conversation this weekend with Glasses Off (www.glassesoff.org) a religious liberty blogger. it brought into question my own ideas about simplicity, beauty, and celebrating the both of them at once. i would be interested in your thoughts -- as, i'm assuming, many of us here in DC ponder these issues. here is most of the resultant post from my blog:

... over our wedding shower tea & scones, ms. glasses & i discussed her penchants for freedom of worship and luxe design, as well as a reader’s rant regarding one of her fashion posts. the reader’s contention: no one who trumpets justice for the poor should buy prada shoes, even if they’re 3 seasons old and purchased on the mega-sale rack.

it was a good issue to ponder together, and it was especially germane because the bride-of-the-hour was a woman whom both ms. glasses and i marvel over, thanks to her ability not to let the transient/low-wage twenties keep her from collecting a few exquisite shoes, perfumes, and paintings (and not much else). in other words, the bride eschews target binges and, instead, awaits with baited breath the marc jacobs samples sale.

i’ll be honest: the bride’s shopping philosophy has sometimes left me a little befuddled — who needs a cashmere sweater when kmart’s cotton/paper-towel blend cardigan can keep you cozy?! i’m not too proud to endure a little chafing, if it’s all in the name of cheapskatery, which, as i’ve mentioned before, is pretty much in my top 10 family values. but the beauty of the bride’s philosophy has dawned on me once or twice — especially in those moments when i’ve had to borrow one of her soft sweaters and, as i toss it over my shoulders, my whole body says: ahhhhh.

ultimately, ms. glasses & i came around to pondering: what is simplicity? what is beauty? what are the most conscientious, green, and/or obedient choices when it comes to stewardship of resources? and how can a cheap person avoid smug self-righteousness and a bitter inability to celebrate beauty, and a person who loves finery keep from finery lust?

ms. glasses and i agreed that one of the most important things for cheapskates and finery-lovers alike is to temper consumption with giving. our conversation reminded me that tithing has been one of the most challenging and significant spiritual commitments of my adult life: taking 10% off the top of every paycheck is a great way to be utterly humbled before God. tithing is also a good reminder that every job is a gift and that i am always able to financially support ministries of mercy, even when i’m making $15K a year. and it may sound strange, but tithing has struck me as a discipline whose bodily impact is as powerful as that of chastity. perhaps that’s why these disciplines are two of the most difficult ones to undertake...

looking forward to your thoughts!

be well,

laura

Waiting For God by Henri Nouwen

Waiting is not a very popular attitude. Waiting is not something that people think about with great sympathy. In fact, most people consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is basically saying, “Get going! Do something! Show you are able to make a difference! Don’t just sit there and wait!” For many people, waiting is an awful desert between where they are and where they want to go. And people do not like such a place. They want to get out of it by doing something…

It impresses me, therefore, that all the figures who appear in the first pages of Luke’s Gospel are waiting. Elizabeth and Zechariah are waiting. Mary is waiting. Simeon and Anna, who were there at the temple when Jesus was brought in, are waiting. The whole opening of the good news is filled with waiting people. And right at the beginning all those people in someway or another hear the words, “Do not be afraid. I have something good to say to you.” These words set the tone and the context. Now Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary, Simeon and Anna are waiting for something new and good to happen to them…

Waiting, as we see it in the people on the first pages of the Gospel, is waiting with a sense of promise. “Zechariah,…your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son.” “Mary,…Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son” (Luke 1:13, 31). People who wait have received a promise that allows them to wait. They have received something that is at work in them, like a seed that has started to grow. This is very important. We can only really wait if what we are waiting for has already begun for us. So waiting is never a movement from nothing to something. It is always a movement from something to something more. Zechariah, Mary, and Elizabeth were living with a promise that nurtured them, that fed them, and that made them able to stay where they were…

Second, waiting is active. Most of us think of waiting as something very passive, a hopeless state determined by events totally out of our hands…But there is none of this passivity in scripture. Those who are waiting are waiting very actively. They know that what they are waiting for is growing from the ground on which they are standing…Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it…

Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus is not an empty waiting. It is a waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for. We wait during Advent for the birth of Jesus. We wait after Easter for the coming of the Spirit, and after the ascension of Jesus we wait for his coming again in glory. We are always waiting, but it is awaiting in the conviction that we have already seen God’s footsteps.Waiting for God is an active, alert - yes, joyful -waiting. As we wait we remember him for whom we are waiting, and as we remember him we create a community ready to welcome him when he comes.

Great insight from John Michael Talbot

We come to the beginning of another Advent. We have done it many times before, and will probably do so again. Only God knows the future. And we come to the beginning of another liturgical Church year. We come again to a time of penance and conversion; "Lent with a little sugar on top," as I have often said. There is not necessarily anything new to be said. Most of what we would say has been said before by many others. But "repetition is the mother of learning."

What strikes me with this is our notion of moving through time. In the west we usually think of time as having a beginning and an end. It can be seen as a line that starts in one place, and goes to another. In the east people think of time as a circle without beginning or end. There are strengths and weaknesses with both. The weakness of linear time is that it gets so goal oriented that it can fail to live in the present moment. The problem with cyclic time is that it can lull us into a state of sluggishness.

Pope Benedict XVI has put these two concepts together in a kind of "corkscrew" approach to time. It is both cyclic in that it goes round and round, and linear in that it begins and ends someplace. I really like this description. It is typically brilliant and insightful of Pope Benedict XVI.For many years I have proposed a similar model; that of a spiral staircase that goes up or down when viewed from the side, but seems to go round and round in the same space when viewed from below or above. This model emphasizes that ordinary life tends to go round and round with the same mundane issues over and over again. What makes our progress good or bad is which direction we are going.

St. Peter Damien of the 11th century semi eremitical reform of western monasticism, and a leading cardinal of the Church of his day, says that you either go up or down every day of your life. If you try to stand still you begin a downward spiral. Life is a decision. Love is a decision. The question is what we will do as the same issues of life come around again and again. Will we choose to follow Jesus this Advent, and continue our journey upward to heaven? Or will we just stop trying and begin a slow downward spiral?

Chances are we elder members of the Church will not hear much new this Advent. Chances are that we have heard it all pretty much before. But the challenge of what we do with the message of Jesus for us this Advent remains a matter of life or death for us all. We can choose to follow Jesus, or we can just give up, or block it all out once more.

This Advent, rise to the challenge. Though the issues might seem to get old, the challenge never gets old. It is always new because every day of our life is new. Let's convert, let's do penance, let's rise and walk up the spiral staircase with the help of the grace of God. Let's not get lulled into to a sense of the all too familiar and try to stand still. It only leads to falling back down the stairs. It leads to sin, sadness, and spiritual death. Jesus wants us to have life and have it abundantly. This Advent let's choose life, and live. God grant you a most blessed Advent this year!

In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

On Compassion from Jen Vollett-Krech

At a recent StBs Darfur prayer meeting, we discussed an article written by Bryant Myers (Author of Walking with the Poor) called "Compassion with an Attitude: a Humanitarian's View of Human Suffering." It has a lot of relevance for us at St. Brendan's as we seek ways to engage with those who are suffering both in our city and abroad. He defines compassion and suggest the marks of engage church.

Compassion with an Attitude Defined...
He defines compassion on three levels:
1. "Compassion begins with seeing the suffering of others and being willing to listen to its call. If we are willing to see and to hear, we must next be willing to feel. The first part of being truly and incarnationally compassionate is to be moved to the core of our being with pity and outrage when in the presence of human suffering.

2. "To hear, see, and feel is the foundation of compassion. Yet it is not compassion itself. In its fullest sense, compassion is an action word. Driven by conviction and mercy, we must act..."

3. "Compassion actions that Jesus took were not just ameliorative. Compassion is more than mercy and more than simple response. Biblical compassion has a bias in favor of social restoration.. (ie. showing compassion to refugees but also unmasking the human greed and hunger for power that created the conflict from which refugees flee)

**In its fullest form, compassion is seeing, feeling and acting in a way that poses a radical critique of the dominant voices of the day, reminding them of what God in fact requires of them.**

Bryant Myers goes on to describe the marks of an engaged church that has embraced "incarnational empathy":

1. Sacrificial Giving - "a Good Samaritan kind of giving, the kind of giving that inconveniences us and sacrifices the daily schedule, the kind of giving that not only gets a suffering man to an inn but leaves money with the innkeeper."

2. Social Restorative Actions - "this is associated wiht the attitude aspect of compassion. This is the mark that comes from making noise in polite and powerful places, the kind of mark that comes from taking positions that are unpopular and provactive" (similar to our discussion on the retreat about addressing structural injustices)

3. Prayer - not just for the relief of suffering but to reveal a loving, active God who suffers with us and whose Glory can be revealed even in the face of suffering.

How does this relate to Darfur and St. Brendan's? I am still figuring that out but I know that we can prayer for God and His Glory to be revealed even in the midst of the mess of Sudan and that Jesus' model of what compassion looks like is a challenge.

Some food for thought....

Jen

Prayer of Abandonment

Father,I abandon myself into your hands;do with me what you will.Whatever you may do, I thank you:I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,and in all your creatures -I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul:I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,and with boundless confidence,for you are my Father.
Charles de Foucauld

Keeping Up With Darfur

St. Brendan's joins with many others in praying regularly for an end to the genocide in Darfur, keeping up with what's going on there, and trying to find ways to be active as a redemptive response to this crisis. Jen Vollett-Krech helps us do that, in part with her blog on Darfur. Check it out at http://globalengage.typepad.com/darfur_gap/. And pray.

"Thy Kingdom Come" through Hands of the Healer

Several times a day, the Medevac helicopters fly hurriedly over our house in Washington DC. We live in the flight path between the Children’s Hospital complex and points to the southwest. Depending on the direction of the helicopter’s flight, either it is flying to someone in distress, or it is carrying the most precious thing, a human being, back to the hospital for healing. And if the one in that helicopter is being rushed back to the hospital for care, what kind of care will he or she receive? What kind of doctor will they meet? Will they receive excellent medical care, and that is all? Or will they get that plus the gracious and powerful touch of doctors and nurses who know that their hands somehow are the hands of God to bring healing to a broken world and broken bodies?

Recently, a Christian doctor from Children’s Hospital and twelve other healing practitioners met for a Vocare discussion, a long conversation exploring the relationship between faith and work. On this night, we discussed the impact of a patient’s faith on their general health and length of life, using the groundbreaking study of this relationship by Dr. David Larson and others as a starting point. Our conversation ended exploring the role of the practitioner’s own spiritual life in the pursuit of their vocation as a healer, ministers of God’s Kingdom through the ministry of healing. Viewed conscientiously through the right lens, all of us can understand our vocations as being ‘ministers of God’s Kingdom’. This is not a hard connection to make particularly for nurses, counselors, doctors and others in the wide range of those ministering to the body, mind, and heart in their profession.

To paraphrase Dallas Willard, God’s Kingdom comes when what God wants done is done. God’s kingdom comes when the ways God designed things to be actually happen. Jesus came to make it possible for God’s ways to happen through us, for God’s Kingdom to come through his people. This explains the ministry of Jesus and how he called and equipped and sent his disciples to continue his ministry, and healing is one of the most obvious ways.

The progression in the Gospel of Luke is breathtaking. In his first sermon as recorded in the first half of chapter 4, Jesus proclaims that the Kingdom of God has come in him. Immediately he sets about casting out demons and healing people, and continues to proclaim “the good news of the Kingdom of God” (4.43). Later he commissions and empowers the twelve disciples to do exactly the same thing, including “to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” (9.1-2) Shortly thereafter, he commissioned 72 more to do exactly the same thing with authority: “Heal the sick and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come to near to you’.” (10.9) After his resurrection, Jesus says to his disciples “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you: Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20.21-22).

Jesus healed, and empowered others to heal so that many could know that that in Jesus the kingdom of God had come and that indeed the coming of the kingdom would have tangible expression. This ministry continues today, through healers ministering in Jesus’ name. Five hundred years ago St. Teresa of Avila put it so well—“Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.” To say to those who practice medicine, yours are the hands of Christ to heal now, is not too much to say. We can be grateful for that generous ‘common grace’ of God that doesn’t limit this ministry of healing only to those who do it in Jesus’ name. And we can be stunned by remembering that Christians healing in Jesus’ name carry out very tangibly the ministry that Jesus started.

What a remarkable gift to be called to the ministry of healing! Whether offering healing physically, mentally, or emotionally, there are few vocations so easily connected to being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. And there are few ministries that are so eagerly desired by so many in so many places at basically any time.

My wife Tara, is a nurse practitioner, and several years ago we literally traveled around the world ministering to abandoned women and street children in Majority World cities like Lima, Nairobi, Calcutta, Kathmandu, and others. In each of those places, people in distress lined up for ministry, and inevitably they wanted to see her first. Their presenting concern was the illness in their body, which consistently she addressed not only with medical professionalism but also with a compassionate spirit of genuine concern and individual attention. They were ministered to by the hands of Jesus through Tara’s hands, and were much more able and willing to receive words of God’s love and power to bring more healing than simply the alleviation of their physical suffering. The Kingdom was happening to them. What God wants (the restoration of body and soul from the brokenness of illness and sin) was happening. So often the ‘healers’ are the first place sick people encounter the Kingdom of God coming to them.

This big picture view of a biblical perspective of the ministry of healing is inspiring indeed, but not so much that it can’t get swept in the day to day reality of overbooked appointments, long lines of patients, and health crises that demand one’s full attention. Are there ways those in the healing profession can keep a “Kingdom consciousness” clear, constant, and present, even on the busiest days? Are there ways for the health professional to remember that “my hands are the hands of Jesus to bless this person.” There are simple ways to start cultivating that mindset.

Perhaps by taping a ‘note to self’ on the dashboard of one’s car-“My hands are the hands of Jesus to heal”— to be pondered and prayed about on the way to the hospital or office. Or perhaps, when seeing a patient, pausing for a moment in their presence, or during an exam, and praying silently in great faith, “Father, heal them by the power of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name.” A doctor praying this may have studied to be given the tools to heal the patients body. Through the prayer of that same doctor, God may be bringing healing to ailments that don’t show up in a CAT scan or blood test.

That same doctor from Children’s Hospital, to whom those helicopters sometimes bring patients, recently treated the little son of some dear friends of ours, who was afflicted by an imminently life-threatening ailment. With his skill he treated the boy successfully, with his prayers and spirit he ministered to the parents. Somehow that feels like the Kingdom of God coming, where God’s way is what happens.