Showing posts with label Christianity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christianity. Show all posts

Friday, May 1, 2015

Friday, May 01, 2015 - ,,,, No comments

Siesta Memory Verse #9

 

It's about that time, the time for the Scripture Memory verse for the first half of May. My verse this time was inspired by the person who wrote April 15th post on the Living Proof blog. It just seemed great, so I'm going with it.

"The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephamiah 3:17 TNIV).

See you in the middle of May!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

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Siesta Memory Verse #8

http://blog.lproof.org/
It's that most wonderful day of the year, for the tax man, April 15th! I'm not going to say that I love taxes. I even filed amended tax returns for last year when I realized by doing this year's taxes that I had miscalculated a major deduction. No, it wasn't enough to go to Rio, but it was better than nothing.  Having said all that, I am very thankful for the services that come from my taxes: police, fire fighters, military, roads, schools, etc. So, while I filed my taxes back in January, I still tip my hat to the tax person and the hard work they do.

The fact that it's April 15th should mean that spring was well on it's way. If you would have asked me that yesterday morning, I would have agreed. Let me just share an illustration. First is a picture from Easter morning (April 5) where we put left over lose flowers on a cross just outside the building.

 

This second is when I came back from lunch yesterday(April 14 ). It continued to snow into the evening, not a huge amount but still. It stayed below freezing last night, so the snow is still with us. Welcome to Idaho! lol


Now, before I forget, I'm actually here to conduct some business. It is Siesta Sister Scripture Memory Verse Day. We are up to our eighth verse of the year. I chose this one because of a friend of mine that is going through some major turmoil. And really, who of us don't need to remember that we can depend on God for all things at all times. Doesn't mean we don't have a role to play, but God is our strong arm and our shield (from another Psalm, maybe I'll use that one next time).

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance" (Psalm 32:7, NIV).

Here is a song that is inspired by this verse. I can sing is over and over again when I feel lost and scared.


Whatever you may be going through this week, I hope you find some comfort in this.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Wednesday, April 01, 2015 - ,,,,, No comments

Siesta Memory Verse #7


http://blog.lproof.org/
It's memory verse time. I have to admit that I'm not meditating on them as much as I could. I'm not in the room where I keep my verses as much as I used to. As they say, Out of sight; out of mind. I think it's time for a relocation.

My first verse for April is...

"Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for the body" (Proverbs 16:24).

My April sure came in like a lion. How about you?

Sunday, March 1, 2015

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Siesta Memory Verse #5

Here we are in the 5th week of the Siesta Memory Verse project for 2015! I'm preparing this a little early, so I don't forget this time.
http://blog.lproof.org/
For anyone stumbling across this ... I am part of a group of women from around the world who are memorizing (or in my case meditating) on two pieces of Bible scripture a month. It is generally no more than a verse or two. They generally coordinate this project every other year. The is my third go around.  Even though memorization is not my gift, I find great fulfillment in going through this process during the course of a year.

For Week 5 of 2015 my verses are:

[Paul wrote,] "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39, NIV)

Have a great March!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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Siesta Memory Verse #4

I'm running a couple of days behind on my Memory Verse for the second half of February. I'm not sure how it happened when last time I was out of town and was able to stay on schedule. Such is life. I guess that's what I get for finding several verses at the same time.

This time I am borrowing the one used on the Living Proof Blog. It's a perfectly acceptable option if we can't find one on our own. I really liked how the poster, Sherry, broke it down. It could really help me as I prepare for big changes in my life. I am anticipating my next big adventure.


“Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” (1 Sam 12:24 ESV)

In six months my life may be more what I anticipate, or it could be wildly different, but it won't be the same as it is now. I will have a different job (hopefully), and I'll be living in a new place. This could be a great theme verse for me.

In the mean time, I have to start packing soon!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

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Siesta Memory Verse #3


I can hardly believe that it is February already, but January was a roller coaster ride. There was lots of contemplation about my professional future. If all goes as planned, I'll be placed in a new church as the pastor on July 1st. However, there's a lot of pavement between here and there.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to be doing these memory verses because it helps to give my life focus and reassurance. This week's is another that I came across several weeks ago. It helps to keep things in perspective whether things are going well or not.

"Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31b, NIV)

Hope that you have a great February!

Thursday, January 15, 2015

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Siesta Memory Verse #2


If it is Jan 15th, it must be time for my 2nd memory verse for 2015. It's a project I'm doing for 2015, memorizing (or more accurately in my case, meditating on) 24 Bible verses over the year. We select one beginning on the 1st of the month and another on the 15th.  For the next two weeks, I'll be meditating on ...

[God says:] “But forget all that — It is nothing compared to what I am going to do.” (Isaiah 43:18, NLT)

It was funny. Just after I started on Jan 1st, several other verses that captured my attention came across my path. I should be all set for another month. Just looking at the verses that people select can tell a lot about where they are mentally and emotionally. At the moment I need a bit of reassurance. It will be nice to have God whispering this in my ear for the next couple of weeks.

If you want to see what it's all about or want to participate yourself check out the Living Proof Ministries blog.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Thursday, January 01, 2015 - ,,,, 4 comments

Siesta Scripture Memory Team 2015

I consider myself quite a spiritual person, but it isn't a side of myself that I've shared about a lot on this blog. This is something that I plan to change in 2015, and it start's here with the Seista Scripture Memory Verse adventure for 2015. You  can read all about it below.

 

I invite you on a Bible adventure. One of the great things about 2015 is that it is a another "Seista Scripture Memory Verse" year. It is an adventure that Beth Moore organizes every other year that encourages people to focus on 24 Bible verses a month. That's two per month, the 1st and the 15th.

My verse for January 1: "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8, NIV

Beth's goal is memorization, but I'm not so good at that, so I focus on meditation on the verse. I'll be posting my verses here twice a month. You are welcome to join me in this adventure. You can post your verse with me, and/or you can go to Beth's blog and post your information there.

If you want to be official, post your verse on Beth's blog post for today, Verse 1. http://ow.ly/GFOxk

If you want more information about how the whole adventure works, see this informational post. http://ow.ly/GFOFy

I hope you will join me. It can be great fun to go on this adventure with God!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Sunday, April 20, 2014 - ,,, 1 comment

Happy Easter! Christ the Lord Is Risen Today!

After we eat the chocolate bunnies, find all the eggs, and play all the games, what is Easter really all about? What makes the death of a single man by the Roman Empire so important?

There may have been a pax Romana, but that doesn't mean that everything was peaceful and lovely in the Roman Empire. The way they maintained the peace was with an iron fist. What that means is that at the very first sign of  trouble they would round up the leaders and execute them.

The Roman Empire executed Jesus just like they executed over hundred other rebel leaders. What makes Jesus extraordinary is not that he died on the cross. That was a typical execution method for political prisoners. What makes Jesus extraordinary is that he defeated death. He rose from the dead and showed himself not just to the disciples. It happened over 2000 years ago, and we're still talking about it.

Here is a hipster version of "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today." Happy Easter!


Friday, March 14, 2014

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Pope Francis and the Media Have Their First Fight

Pope Francis came to power almost a year ago. Right from the start, he demonstrated a new tone for the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. The media loved his more friendly demeanor and care about the common person.

There was a greater focus on that basic Judeo-Christian principal of loving God and loving neighbor instead of all of the controversies that has mired the Roman Catholic Church for decades.

With the one year anniversary coming up, Pope Francis has been doing some interviews. It's here the trouble begins with the media. The thing is that despite his different communication style, the Pope remains Catholic. Part of the reason that he was appointed as a bishop is that his thoughts on Catholic doctrine were considered acceptable to the Pope at the time. That would have been Pope John Paul II.

In these articles, he says that the Roman Catholic Church has been the most transparent when it comes to sex abuse allegations against priests. He may be willing to discuss leadership roles for women in the Church, but don't even think about them becoming priests. Contraception, full inclusion of divorced persons in the activities of the church, forget about it. He does not plan to make any change.

He may be in favor of inviting gay and lesbian persons in through the doors of the Church, but that has more to do with they're societal marginalization than with his desire to advocate for gay marriage or anything like that.

It looks as though the bloom maybe off the rose. Pope Francis may not be quite as progressive as they'd hoped. It's not like they weren't warned. Several bishops made the rounds of the talk shows when Pope Francis was first elected. They said that he wouldn't be changing all the doctrine of the church. However, it seems like no one would believe them.

I still like the new Pope. His outreach to the marginalized and communication style remains refreshing. I think he can really help with the public perception of the church.

Regardless, he's not going to persuade me to become a Catholic. There are too many areas where we will continue to agree to disagree, so to speak. What I am glad about is that the media has had an opportunity to end their hero worship and realize that Pope Francis is not the new Messiah. I don't think that the Pope would want them to do that anyway

P.S. Full disclosure, my father's side of the family is predominantly Catholic. I considered long and hard about joining the Catholic Church. There are many things I love and appreciate about it.

References:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-popes-first-year-have-we-created-ourselves-a-fantasy-francis-9179092.html

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4906861/

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013 - ,,,, 2 comments

Happy Easter!

It's Easter! To tell you the truth, it's even hard for me to accept that it's not all about chocolate and bunnies. It is about the rescue from death and the renewal of a new day, a resurrection if you will. That meshes perfectly with the rebirth of spring. So, I'm good with that, and hey, if chocolate makes you happy, then go for it.

But this is what Easter's really all about ...


Happy Easter!

Christ is risen ... Christ is risen indeed!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Thursday, March 01, 2012 - ,,,, 7 comments

My Spiritual Journey - 4

We have reached the last installment, at last! Last week, I mentioned that I moved to the Holy City, Charleston, SC.

What intrigued me about the place as much as anything was how full of history it was. I mean, Charleston was one of the very early European settlements in North America (ca. 1670) when it was known as Charles Towne.

Its politicians were heavily involved in the American Revolution and the Civil War (or The Recent Unpleasantness, if you ask the tour guides) as well as an important battleground for both. Only in the last 25 years has it really economically recovered from the Civil War and Reconstruction. The result of that is that huge numbers of historic buildings were never torn down over the years. The blessing in disguise of Hurricane Hugo in 1989 brought in an influx of insurance money, which allowed many of these historic buildings to be renovated to their former glory.


As I have a major interest in history, this place was a great source of inspiration. I loved to walk the streets and look at the houses and gardens. I loved to listen to the tour guides as they spun their tall tales, when the carriage tours passed by. Among these buildings was St Michaels Episcopal Church, built in the 1750s.

This was a place that was jam packed with history. Signers of the Declaration of Independence and creators of the Constitution worshiped here. You could see the plaques on the walls and the stones in the graveyard.


It's one thing to go into a place like this in the middle of the week when it's hushed and empty (and air conditioned with temps in the 90s and 99% humidity), but it's quite another to experience it with a worshiping congregation.


I admit that I was still going to services as an observing social scientist, but here there was a difference. I found myself really connecting with the sermons. What is a sermon really other than a glorified speech?  These speeches were really getting to me. They touched the wounds in my life, and I started to have a glimmer of why I felt like a fish out of water when I tried to live by what I understood as "society's rules" for success, happiness, fulfillment, or whatever you want to call it.

Interior of St Michaels
That was all well and good, but I couldn't get past this thing about why people "believed" or how they had come to believe. I still couldn't get a more coherent answer than "because," which just wasn't cutting it. Obviously, my interest had been piqued, and I was perfectly willing to continue going to services because I was getting something out of it.

One day in a public library, I found the most extraordinary book, The Original Jesus: The Life and Vision of a Revolutionary. It was extraordinary for many reasons, but most important for our story is that it was the first thing I had ever heard or seen that said that it was reasonable for me to need a basis for faith! Peter, James, John, and all of Jesus' disciples (i.e. students, followers) had a basis for their faith, and they had to explain it on a daily basis to the people around them.  There wouldn't be a Christian Church if they, and the other people of the Early Church, were not able to explain the basis for their faith.  At Last!

Meanwhile, I started looking for a church that was closer to where I lived, and I wandered into a United Methodist Church. A curious thing happened.  They weren't threatened by my questions! They were cool with Evolution and the Big Bang. They had women preachers. Heck, they had women bishops! (Bishop is the highest leadership position in the United Methodist Church.) They didn't say that all gay people were going to hell. It really made me rethink my presumptions about the church.

With all of my questions, the pastor invited me to a Bible study that would cover almost the whole thing over the course of  34 weeks, Disciple. Like many people, I had tried several times to "read the Bible" for purely literary and historical purposes if for nothing else, but I always got bogged down and quit somewhere in the second or third book. This study had a method that helped me get past that. It was a huge investment in my time, but I saw it as an opportunity to get the kind of understanding of Christianity that I was looking for.

I made a decision. I would give it a shot. I would go into it skeptical (as always), but open to the possibility of being persuaded. I talked to God ("prayed" if you will), not being sure that I was talking to anyone. I made a deal. I told God that this was God's last shot. I would commit to this study, and it was God's chance to convince me. If it didn't happen, I was done. No more churches. No more research and investigation. It was over.

During the course of those 34 weeks, I had many ups and downs. One of the great things about this study was that there was a lot of explanation of why: where things came from, how outside cultures and religions influenced Jewish and Christian thought and the development of the Bible. It introduced historical information from Greek and Roman sources. Some of what I learned disturbed me. Other parts inspired me greatly. As we were reaching the last few weeks, I still wasn't sure. I felt positive about what Christianity teaches, but the Bible didn't have credibility with me as a historical document to persuade me about the existence of God or belief in Jesus.

What I was looking for was independent witnesses, not something that was seen exclusively by the disciples. That was my threshold. It's going to be different for everyone. As it happened, within the next couple of weeks, I was "introduced" to independent witnesses. Hmmmm ... now I really had a decision to make. My criteria had been fulfilled, but I still wasn't sure. I kind of held it to a judicial standard, beyond a reasonable doubt. The bottom line is that I decided to believe. I decided to believe that Jesus was who he said he was. Once I did that, I had to believe what he said ... including that there was a God. It's kind of like an all or nothing proposition.

The reason that I still believe is what has happened in my life since my decision. It has only been confirmed over and over. Being a Christian does not mean that one's life always runs smooth, nor does it mean that a person has become perfect or all knowing, quite the contrary. The more one learns, the more they see how much more they have to learn.

But that's how it happened. It's complicated, convoluted, as well as very individualized and personal.  And you know what, I could be wrong, but that's okay. I will still feel that it was a life well lived.  It was a long journey.  Thank you for going along with me.


Thursday, February 23, 2012

Thursday, February 23, 2012 - ,,,, 8 comments

My Spiritual Journey - 3

 When  we last saw our heroine, she had heard enough from those secular-humanist folks that said that all religion and spirituality was hooey. It made life seem so pointless. If they were right, we might as well be living in a computer simulation.  She came to the conclusion that they didn't know what they what they were talking about ... any more than anyone else, so she decided to go and investigate it for herself.

She did a lot of what I call "aimless wandering."  She went about her business in the world with an open mind, willing to consider whatever she came across. She tried and tested many things. Some people may have thought it was silly, but really how can you know unless you try. She tried astrology, tarot, and Wicca. They seemed intriguing, for a while. There's more to astrology than what you read in the daily paper, you know. They had method. They had an internal consistency, but ultimately they didn't work for her. They didn't live up to their claims or their predictions, so she moved on.

She looked at some of the more broadly accepted faith traditions such as Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam. Even if she decided that she couldn't accept them, she considered it worthwhile to better understand other people in the world. She found them interesting. She was amazed at the intellect among the people within them. Was it possible that some of the people who participated weren't delusional or otherwise mentally deficient?

However, you shouldn't suppose that our heroine did this all in a whirlwind or a vacuum. These investigations were more like a hobby. She would be wildly interested for a period of time, but then the fever would pass, and she would return to her day to day life, sometimes with years in-between.

Occasionally, her hobby brought her to the doors of Christian Churches. For several years, Catholicism piqued her interest, both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Her father's side of the family had a history with the Roman Catholic church, and despite her negative experiences with the Catholic Church in her teenage years, she decided to give them another chance. She found the Basilica of St. Mary's to be especially awe inspiring.  The incense was also a wonderful experience. She went through the motions. (You'd be surprised how many people in worship services are doing that.)  She was very respectful, but it was more on the line of a sociology or psychology experiment. She wanted to understand what people were getting out of it beyond the atmospherics, the music, or even the camaraderie. Was it just some sort of glorified clubhouse?

She asked people the question, "Why do you believe that?" Many many times. After all, she just wanted to understand. The response that she got dumbfounded her. "You just have to believe. You have to take it on faith.  If you need a reason, it really isn't faith."  That didn't make any sense to her ... at all.  If she asked any follow up questions, folks tended to get a bit hostile. She couldn't understand the hostility. It was just an honest question. (Maybe that's why none of her friends in high school would invite her to church events?) She would usually wander off on her own for quite a while after one of those episodes, scratching her head.

Then one day, after a particularly chaotic year in the dance business, she had to move. (For two years, she had been exclusively immersed in the spirituality of dance.) Her choices were Minneapolis, Minnesota or Charleston, South Carolina. It had been a particularly cool summer in Minnesota that year. It seemed like the highest temperature for the whole season had been somewhere around 65˚ F. It was the beginning of September, and weather forecasters were already predicting snow. No contest, she decided to try out Charleston, South Carolina.

She found Charleston to be both a blessing and a curse. As a history buff, living in the hometown of signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, not to mention where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, was like a dream come true. Historic houses.  Beautiful gardens all year round. Going to the beach in September was bliss. Hurricanes, alligators, and snakes ... not so much.

There's one more thing about Charleston. It's also known as "The Holy City" because of the plethora of historic houses of worship there.  That was going to have a profound effect in her investigation and experimentation with spirituality, but perhaps not in the way that you would expect. It was more of a historical expedition, but more about that in our next episode.

Until next week ... Same Bat-Time ... Same Bat-Channel.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Thursday, February 16, 2012 - ,,,, 4 comments

My Spiritual Journey - 2

This week I’ll be focusing on many of the reasons that I didn’t think I could ever consent to be a Christian in Part 2 of my spiritual journey from agnostic to Christian. (Click for part 1.)

I don’t know about these days because I’ve been out of the school system too long.  But in my time, if one already had a tendency to be skeptical, school would encourage that. The only exception to that was the teacher him or herself. They were the dispensers of “truth.” If you didn’t believe or questioned them, your grades would reflect that. In other words, I was trained to trust my teachers but not anyone else.

Really, that’s fine with math. Math questions are either right or they’re wrong. It works for spelling and vocabulary tests too because the teachers are picking the words. (I doubt that “irregardless” would appear on a test.) The problem came up with subjects that required interpretation and analysis.

History class probably made the most profound impact when I learned about all the evils done in the name of Christianity. Crusades, inquisitions, the wars associated with the Reformation, colonial exploitation, and the list goes on and on. (And believe me; I haven’t forgotten any of those things.) What I wasn’t given is context. I was told who did what to whom, but I wasn’t told the reason why.

In actuality, the lesson in most of those actions was the corruptible influence of great power. (The lesson of absolute power corrupts absolutely wasn’t introduced until Napoleon, but that’s another story.)  However, the lesson that I learned was that Christian Church regardless of manifestation or denomination was evil. Individual Christians might be all right, but the Church was a horrible entity. And don’t even get me started on the science and religion debate.  If evolution (among other things) was not compatible with Christian beliefs, you could count me out.

My time outside of the classroom was not terribly encouraging for the church either. The town that I lived in was predominantly Irish and Italian, and there was a large Roman Catholic presence. Even though my best friends were among them, I felt excluded from significant parts of their lives. (I now realize that their priests would be appalled that they didn’t ever invite me to participate.)

Moreover, teenagers are cruel, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. I felt the hypocrisy of the Church paraded before me on a daily basis by teens who talked about going to confession on Saturday then were hateful to everyone the rest of the week. There’s no way that I wanted to be a part of that.

[Just as a side note: This isn’t a hit exclusively against Catholics. Just last week, I read a story of almost the exact same treatment of a nice Catholic girl who had moved to a predominantly Protestant town.]

So, I graduated high school happy, downright thrilled that I was able to escape what I thought was my small narrow-minded hypocritical Up-state New York town.

I tried to live my life by the world’s rules, as I understood them, which actually meant the way that I saw in movies and tv. Work to achieve academic and professional success. Get money. Buy things. Have relationships with whomever you want, the more the better. Live today, for tomorrow you die.

My life made sense of a sort. Everything was logical and lived up to my cynical expectations, but something was missing. I was very unhappy.  I felt empty inside. I came to the point of “there has to be more to life than this.” As a matter of fact, I felt like I had been tricked. I followed all the rules. Why wasn't I blissful? I went in search of what was missing. I started my spiritual quest, and it went all over the map.

Until next time ...

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Thursday, February 09, 2012 - ,,,, 8 comments

My Journey Through Spirituality - 1

 A couple of weeks ago, I stepped out of my blogging comfort zone to talk about something potentially controversial, the dynamic of different religious groups in the town I now live in. Several of the comments expressed an interest on how I decided to become a Christian in the first place. I thought that would be a great continuation on my religious theme.

In a way, this is kind of my life story because this journey has been going on throughout my life from about as long as I can remember. Hopefully, I can keep the story from dragging too much. ;)

Like any good story, I have to set the scene. Act 1 Scene 1 starts by being raised in a non-religious household. Oh, I had a Christening dress that I still have on a shelf in my closet, and I have Godparents, who had nothing to do with giving me religious instruction. There's some paperwork that the ceremony took place at an Episcopal church. I knew that my parents also were married in an Episcopal church, but that was about the extent of it.

If there was any kind of religion around the house, it was the religion of the U.S. Army. Like any religion, it is filled with disciplines, traditions, and a moral code. However, it was not a household of blind obedience.

My parents had grown up in the shadow of World War II where Nazi military personnel tried to deflect the responsibility of their atrocities by saying that they were only doing what they had been ordered to do. This was also very shortly after the end of the war in Vietnam where the citizens of the United States learned that their government had lied to them in order to generate support for the war. The level of trust in anything besides what one could observe or reason through was very thin.

My father would regularly tell me stories that sounded true ... at first.  As the story continued, it would get more and more far-fetched and outlandish. A particular one that stands out was about submarine races on Lake Superior. (I probably remember it because it was my cousin who got sucked into the story and was pretty bummed when he found out that we couldn't go and see the race. lol)

The way that I figured, this was my father's way of teaching me that I shouldn't blindly follow or believe anyone, not even him.  I should always use my brain and my own reasoning power before believing anything.  Naturally, this attitude backfired on him when I became a teenager and questioned everything he said. For some reason the stories stopped shortly after that. I'm not quite sure why. ;)

Now, it wasn't that my parents were particularly anti-religion either. When I was six, and my neighbors invited me to go to church, my parents had no objections that I recall. However, about a year later, when I wanted to ride my bike rather than go to church, they had no objections either. Of course, at no time in that year did they ever go with me.

In other words, I was briefly exposed to Christianity, but we lived in an irreligious household. There was no significant change from this as long as I lived with my parents, even after they divorced. We celebrated Christmas with Santa and Easter with bunnies.

However, as all parents (and children) know, children don't learn everything about life at home. School began to have an influence. And that's where the story will pick up next week.

Here's a hint. My father's teaching to question things was encouraged. You already know how the story ends, but I can assure you that I approached the whole thing with a great deal of skepticism.

Until next week ...

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