reblogged: your servant is listening

 

Recently, I perceived an unmistakable call to stillness. The incidents piled up over the course of a week: first a planned meeting of friends with the purpose of discussing meditation via Richard Foster’s book “Celebration of Discipline,” then an invitation to read “The Art of Stillness” by Pico Iyer with our staff at work (he also gave a great TED talk on the subject), and finally listening to a daily podcast which focused on practicing stillness and listening for God. This was all framed by the lectionary passage 1 Samuel 3, which came up several times.

As these incidents piled up, I decided to take God up on the offer for some quiet time. I went to a coffee shop, pulled out my journal, and began to write.

But before I go further, why bother with stillness? I collected a few reasons this week:

To slow down. We are a people of motion with tremendous emotional and intellectual inertia, not to mention kinetic energy. Our modern world always demands more from us. Running nonstop is to be like the world – slowing down is countercultural, which is often a good starting place for God’s work.

To empty ourselves. Try to sit for just 3 minutes without thinking of your responsibilities or your to-do list. Many of us struggle; our heads and hearts are full. Slowing down and emptying out puts us in a posture to hear and receive from God.

To be filled. One of the differences, says Foster, between Eastern and Christian meditation is that Eastern mediation focuses on completely emptying out and retreating from the world. Christian meditation goes further – we become empty in order to be filled. We hear God’s voice, receive God’s call, stir up our creativity, and recover from the wear and tear of everyday life, but poised to engage with the culture.

I sat in the coffee shop, and as an exercise, began to write every thought that came to mind, emptying them into the hands of God. It started with lines like:

Back pain.
A friend’s name.
Curriculum design.
Desire to lead.

As the list grew, its character changed:

The wood grain in the table, and the marks and blemishes – who made them?
The spiral of metal binding this notebook, precision wound through sheets of processed tree matter.

After that, I stopped writing and started noticing people around me. One spent about 10 minutes getting the balance of condiments in his coffee just right. Another hammered away on his laptop with unfettered focus.

I didn’t hear the audible voice of God like Samuel, but I did receive a sense of peace, calm, and thanksgiving. I entertained creative thoughts and renewed my connection with God and the world.

This is the posture I want to have while seeking justice and God’s Kingdom come. I’d love to invite you to try slowing down, emptying out, and asking God to fill you. I hope we can be like young Samuel, in the quiet stillness, saying, “speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

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First appearing on Feb 8, 2015, this is a guest blog I wrote for The Book of Fellows, the blog for United Methodists Young Adult Missionaries. Check it out and see what my peers are up to and thinking about!
 

creative: letter from a birmingham jail

Doodling, particularly while listening, is one creative exercise I formally discovered in the past few months. Whether music, a staff meeting, or something else, for me, it's a life giving outlet that actually helps me stay focused at the same time. It also fixes things in my memory - I can tie large concepts to these creations.

I created this little doodle while listening to an audio recording of a reading of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail." I don't have any analysis for it - maybe I'm too scared to try - but the Letter is quite the challenge for people of all backgrounds to be united, speak up for those who are unheard, and work side-by-side.

I actually created this a few days after the King Holiday, but am just getting around to posting! I look forward to sharing more adventures in the near future.

This post is tagged creative: I discovered that one of my great joys in life is doing work with my hands - manual dexterity - tactile thinking and learning and processing. I actually do some artsy things on occasion, like drawing, writing, playing music, poetry, alternative prayer styles, cooking, and many others. Creative posts are my way of being vulnerable and sharing this work and creativity with the world.

creative: all things new

Well, the Earth is completing one more lap around the sun, and it's time to celebrate. Then it's time to start all over again. Put like that, it sounds monotonous. The same old winter, spring, summer, fall; rainy season, dry season; days, nights; breakfast, lunch, dinner; and so on.

But for most of us, these cycles are actually refreshing. Why? Because they are never actually the same. We grow older, wiser, move to new places, meet new people, have children, have new life experiences, and so on.

See, God is making all things new. The crappy things don't have to stick around forever. We also might lose some of our comforts, because when we are uncomfortable, we grow, experiencing completely new things or experiencing old things in new ways. God is making all things new, and we are also making all things new, because God commissioned us as co-creators as we steward this Earth. So go, create, re-create, and have a blessed new year!

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them; 
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’
And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’
Revelation 21:3-5a

giving it all away

Well, it’s Christmas Eve. I didn’t write anything super Christmas-ey, but I thought I’d just share a brief reflection as I’ve been reflecting on the life and impact of my Grandma Elsie, who passed away recently. At 97 years old, she lived a long, full life. While it’s hard to see her go, the time she spent with us was beautiful, and I’m glad she’s with Jesus now.

Grandma loved to crochet, and she was a one-woman scarf and blanket factory. A few examples:

She, with assistance from my Grandma Betty and my Mom, put together a beautiful granny square blanket that took tremendous effort. Indeed, many couches and beds in our family are adorned with blankets crafted by the crochet master herself. Each year, all of the kids in my Mom’s (her daughter’s) elementary school class took home a handmade scarf for Christmas, courtesy of Grandma Elsie. Grandma crocheted baby blankets for newborn children of friends and family, and for stillborn babies as a comfort to the mothers and families of the lost child.

Her impact was far reaching. She touched the lives of so many people – so many people that she would never have the opportunity to meet.

Crocheting was one of her gifts, and maybe even a calling. At her funeral, the pastor said something that really struck me. She crocheted so many things, and what did she do with her work?

She gave it all away.

This kind of giving was not like: I have so much and you have so little, so here you go; but was out of a posture sheer joy and abundance. This kind of giving looks more like: this is what I do, and I want to bless you with it.

I think that’s one more characteristic of a calling that I’d like to tack onto my ever-growing list. It’s a part of you that’s so valuable, and yet so abundant, that you can’t help but give it away, to the glory of God and all people. Maybe there is a Christmas message in there after all.

I hope this is true for my calling, and I pray it is true for yours.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2

creative: one in seven

This is a poem I wrote during our US-2 midterms back in September 2014, which was a time for the missionaries in my class to come together in NYC for a time of reunion, reflection, and equipping. During one session, we were asked to write a short poem or prose about Sabbath, and this was my response. I pray we could all find a little more time for Sabbath in each day and each week.

One in Seven

Six days of the week are planned, scheduled, outlined, and detailed. The alarm rocks me to consciousness at 7:00am. These days are crammed with meetings, works, chores, duties, things to be excited about and things to deplore. It’s a race – can I get everything done that I said I would do before it’s time for lights out, tap out, conk out?

One day,
just one,
in seven is left,
set apart,
unstructured.
I finally get to sleep in!
With nothing but a blank slate ahead of me,
I get to decide with God what we will do together today.
My biggest responsibility is to make sure I get the rest and rejuvenation I need.

But that’s a huge responsibility in itself. It becomes a burden to set aside that time. I permit commitments and responsibilities to slowly leak in, crowding out the Sabbath, breaking the plan for having no plans.

But why do I allow this day called holy to become much like the other six?

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If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
   from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call the sabbath a delight
   and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
   serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;
then you shall take delight in the Lord,
   and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
   for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 58:13-14

newsletter: issue 3 - year one and beyond

Hot off the presses, here is Issue 3 of my newsletter!

July 23, 2014 marked the first day of my second year of service as a missionary. It’s cliché to say, but also true, that the year flew by, and it’s hard to imagine now that I only have about 9 months left before I finish! Although, 9 months is a lot of time, and I look forward to continuing to grow and finishing strong. Before too much more time flies by, here is a little update on my life and times! ...

I hope you'll download the full newsletter and read on. If you'd like this to arrive in your inbox or mailbox, please send me a note and I'll get you signed up. Also, consider passing this along to some young adult you know who might be interested in mission service.

Thanks for your support in many ways, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Prayer requests:

• Big praise and joy that I've finally started some medicine which is helping my back to recover from my bout with spinal arthritis!
• Continued guidance on where God would have me go and what God would have me do next.
• Healing for those affected by Ebola, and creation of a strong healthcare infrastructure in West African Nations which will help prevent disease outbreaks in the future.

reblogged: challenge accepted

First appearing on Nov 15, 2014, this is guest blog I wrote for The Book of Fellows, the blog for United Methodists Young Adult Missionaries. Check it out and see what my peers are up to and thinking about!

Over November 7-9, 2014, a few of us Young Adult Missionaries traveled to Denver, CO for Imagine What’s NEXT. Through music, messages, conversations, and fun, this UMC gathering gave college students, and folks from agencies and organizations, time and space to connect, worship, and consider opportunities for service and vocation.

On Saturday evening, we were issued the $5 Challenge. As we departed for dinner and evening worship downtown, the organizers gave each participant $5 cash. We were not to keep this, but to use it to make the biggest impact possible in downtown Denver. They gave a number of ideas like buying a package of socks to give away, treating someone to dinner, or buying a bus pass for someone. They encouraged us to take pictures of our experiences and post them on social media with the hashtag “#5challenge.”

As for the missionaries, the gears in our minds were spinning. Personally, I had just given a talk earlier in the day, and one of my points was an old standard at Church and Society: we often fail to make the distinction between acts of charity – temporary assistance for urgent needs – and justice – lasting transformation aimed at God’s Kingdom. God calls us to both through our lives of faith (Micah 6:8, Matt 23:23), but we often focus our ministries on charity. For us, the $5 Challenge was to think and act outside the box and do something a little closer to justice.

An idea budded and blossomed during break time: what if we bought sidewalk chalk and wrote messages of inspiration, encouragement, advocacy, and awareness on the streets of Denver? We ran with it. After dinner, we fortunately came upon an office supplies store 5 minutes before close (yes, we were those annoying customers). Six of us went in and spent $3 on 3 packs of chalk. We hit the streets.

Before our eyes, the results multiplied like fishes and loaves blessed by God. People read our notes as they walked by, some engaging us in conversation. Some people wanted to write words of wisdom and inspiration for themselves, so we gave them chalk to take with them on their own journeys. We tagged each of our notes “#NEXT14″ so that socially-networked passers-by might go online and see what else we were up to at the conference.
 

I like to think that people’s lives were changed, even just a little, by our “street tweets” – that someone would know that Christians carry messages of hope as well as challenge – that another might grow in their awareness that all people are valuable and treasured – that yet another would come to realize we were created to be alive and vital. A few strategic and beautiful words, bathed in the power of the Spirit, have the power to transform lives forever.

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’ –Luke 19:39-40