Category Archives: Spiritual Formation

August 10, 2023 · 6:38 pm

Thoughts from an August Garden

It has happened again! My garden has suffered a collision with the month of August. Allow me to explain. During the early Spring months I look forward to planting the annual vegetable and flower gardens on our property. I usually plan things out, sometimes even drawing out a sketch of how and where to plant things. I evaluate where plants were last year, how they did, how things could be improved, what takes up the most room, what needs protection from nibbling varmits, etc. Then comes the fun part – preparing the soil, planting the seed, transplanting the plants and watching things take root and grow.

Things usually go swimmingly up until August. I enjoy the ongoing cultivation, don’t even mind the weeding, and certainly have fun inviting the grandsons in to help with the harvest of various fruits and vegetables. Youngest grand Jon loves to help water, and oldest grand Oliver has long been a garden buddy. They each take joy, Elliott included, in carrying a fresh squash or tomato into their Lolly or Momma. But come August, after days of sweltering heat, periods of no rain – and, to be honest a little neglect on my part – the garden looks a bit sad.

Here’s the current state of things this August, as well as a recounting of the season thus far:

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July 27, 2023 · 3:46 pm

Becoming an Apprentice in the Jesus Way of Life

According to the Cambridge Dictionary an apprentice is “someone who has agreed to work for a skilled person for a particular period of time in order to learn that person’s skills”. Merriam Webster adds, that an apprenticeship is “an arrangement in which someone learns an art, trade, or job under another”.

Skilled trades often come to mind when I think about someone who is an apprentice or serving an apprenticeship – trades like carpenters, plumbers and electricians. But what if we were to think of our life in Christ, our life of discipleship in the terms of apprenticeship? Could such an understanding bring a freshness or new energy and eagerness to how one endeavors to follow Jesus?

I’m not sure that “disciple” or “discipleship” are completely overused or worn out terms, or that they carry the negative connotation for some Christ followers, and pre-Christians as say the word “evangelism”. But, both words are oft used in the church and Christ following circles. How many times in a sermon have you heard the word “disciple” used? Or, how many times is “discipleship” a topic of a prayer or a devotional writing you may participate in? (Maybe you should count?) Sometimes a new or different word causes us to pay attention in a new or fresh way. Thinking about being an apprentice of Jesus has done this for me.

What works in this understanding is that following Jesus has always been about a way of life. When Jesus was first approached by a couple of the disciples of John, curious about this one John had identified as the “Lamb of God”, Jesus invites them to “come and see” where he is staying? It’s a way of saying, come and try this out, follow me, learn from me. Certainly there must have been information and teaching shared, the didactic part of discipleship, but that’s not what is most obvious about their following Jesus. What’s most obvious is that they spent time with him, literally shared life with him, watched and learned from him, maybe even began to imitate the things he said and did. They became his apprentices.

Somewhere in its history the church turned discipleship away from this “way of life” approach toward more and more of a cognitive, what we believe, approach. Doctrine overtook praxis as the definitive marker of discipleship. We worried more about what we thought, than how we acted. We heard Jesus say, “love one another as I have loved you”, but turned that into a doctrine of loving your neighbor verses a way of life steeped in the practice of loving those who are our neighbor.

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May 22, 2023 · 10:10 pm

Pondering Pentecost

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house . . . . Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
(Acts 2:1-4 NRSV)

Imagine you were there, in the city for the Pentecost festival, celebrating and giving thanks for the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Maybe you traveled some distance to attend, as was expected of the devout worshippers of the One God. Others were present as residents of Jerusalem, having made the City of David their home some years prior. Whatever the situation, just 50 days prior you had been present for the Passover festival, and now it was Pentecost.

Your memories from Passover were still fresh. You had been among the pilgrims when the One they called Messiah entered the city. You were aware of his arrest just a few days later. Then you heard he had been crucified – another victim of Rome’s brutal sense of justice.

But the most astonishing reports had circulated in the days that followed, that he was somehow once again alive! These reports even reached your home town miles and days away from Jerusalem. Could it be true? Now, back in the Holy City, reports from the grapevine newsfeed were that his followers had resurfaced, and were preaching and teaching in this risen One’s name.

Coming to Jerusalem for a major festival was always a melting pot experience. People of different lands, languages and ethnicities gathered in the common cause of faith and devotion. Jews and God Fearers alike occupied the city, with some Gentiles around, looking to profit off the business opportunities a crowd brings. And, of course, the ever present Romans, keeping – enforcing – the peace.

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February 22, 2023 · 9:18 am

An Exodus Metaphor

The Exodus is a primary historical and formative event of the Old Testament and thereby for the people to and with whom that collection of books was written. One could argue that the Exodus was the crucible through which the Hebrew people passed enroute to becoming the nation of Israel. It marked their passage from slaves in Egyptian bondage to becoming a free self-ruled people in the Promised Land. It was a formative period through which other future experiences would be seen, weighed and evaluated.

When reading the Exodus story one finds it was far from a linear experience. In fact the forty years of wandering, which God required of the Hebrew people, was much more of a meandering or looping trail than anything resembling a strait line between two points. This is true not only geographically but also spiritually. Much happened in those years of wilderness existence. They were formative years, meaning that they helped shape the people into a new identity. Many a preacher has commented that it was easier for God to get the Hebrews out of Egypt, than to get Egypt out of the Hebrews. The people frequently grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and through them to God. They expressed a preference to return to Egypt rather than suffer in the wilderness. The “go back to Egypt” committee was a standing committee in their camp.

Commenting on both this biblical story, and the metaphor it becomes in our own faith formation, author Brian McLaren writes: “Like them (the Hebrews), we must remember that going forward may be difficult, but going back is disastrous.” (McLaren, We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation and Activation, Jericho Books, 2014, p.42).

McLaren is inviting his reader to contemplate the exodus experiences of life that have, are, or will contribute to our own spiritual formation. These are crucible wilderness-like events through which we do the work of honing identity once again. They are seldom pleasant experiences, and sometimes – as was the case with Israel – can seem generational in length and endurance. But they need not become final experiences. In other words, one does not have to stay in the wilderness. One can learn from, be shaped by, and emerge from the wilderness with new purpose, understanding and identity. This forward work, as McLaren suggests in the quote, can (likely will) be difficult. Yet it is important work.

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January 25, 2023 · 12:30 pm

A Spirituality of Geography

If you have lived in different regions of the country, or nations of the world, you have likely observed, even at an unconscious level, that geography – or location, some might say “land” – often impacts spirituality. In other words, we are often shaped and formed, even spiritually, by where we live.  The landscape becomes an influence on how we perceive life, interpret the Creator, and participate in our own spiritual identity. 

We hear about this influence of land or region with respect to other aspects of life.  For example, who among us Americans is not familiar with the political moniker of “red” states and “blue” states?  This way of describing political affiliation with a more conservative (red) or progressive (blue) political identity has been in vogue for decades now.  Today we are even hearing about “purple” states!  If pressed, we could most likely color in our own map – a simplified paint by numbers exercise – of where these states are located.

Another influence of geographic location might be correlated to one’s pace of life.  Those who inhabit a more urban landscape with its busy streets, bustling congestion and condensed population are typically more likely to associate with a faster pace to living.  Interpersonal greetings between unfamiliar “strangers” can be rare in these locales.  “Keep your eyes down and go!”, seems the norm.  Whereas those in a more rural part of the country may find affinity with a less hectic pace.  And to not return a “hello” or “good morning” would simply be considered rude.

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