Congregationalist Article 2012

Hey Know Noise Readers,

Peace be with you. 

I know that last post was Scrooge-ish. Here's a follow up. Just the peaks and valleys of (a pastor's) life being played out on a blog...

Blessings in 2012 to all of you.

------------------------------------------------

First Congregational Church of Battle Creek 

Congregationalist Article 

January 2012

I am thirsty for Wayne Muller. Thirsty for what he thinks, writes, and encourages in those brave enough to behold his spiritual guidance. He is exactly the person for us to journey with as we walk together in religious community this New Year. And here's a bit of a confession that leads to my assurance that Wayne is right for us right now. 

From the 18th to the 25th of December we hosted 8 worship services, including the Longest Night Service and a funeral for a beloved young man who died of a heroine overdose at the age of 27. We did Reel Theology for young families, Christmas baskets for the community, and our youth visited home-bound members to sing Christmas Carols. The heights and depths of Advent and Christmas joy, sadness, bewilderment, and profound reverence were touched this holiday season, of that I am sure. I am constantly in awe of how we show up, as a people committed to the Gospel, committed to the truth and love of God. We show up in the spirit of justice, with the hunger of hope, witnessing in action our belief that God's incarnation doesn't beckon us to sit it out but rather to go more and more intimately into this life's despairing and abundant realities. 

And Christmas about maxed me out this year. All I could do was curl up in a ball and watch back-to-back basketball games on Christmas day once our two worship services came to an end. The exhaustion was palpable. I'd shown up in all the ways I could and given every ounce of energy I had during the Christmas season. Yet, all I could do for most of the evening, as I sat on the couch, was think about the cards I didn't send, the parties or dinners I didn't attend (because I was double booked or too tired), the people I didn't see, the gifts I didn't give and why I didn't do more. 

Crazy. Do any of you ever experience this thing? This not enough thing? 

Please don't hear this as a laundry list of complaints. I love what I do for a living and wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, it is because I love what I do that I'd like to get into the deeper significance of this not enough thing. I also suspect that I am not alone in this struggle. I see many of you, particularly those of you who show up consistently in the ministry of this church, wrestling with similar push and pull.  

In our culture, we are constantly asked to do more and to do more quickly. Technology has increased our capacity to 'get things done' with the click of a button. The market place and media have become around-the-clock enterprises that never shut down, shut off or shut up. Some call this progress. I'm not sure. What I do know is that more and more and more--whether the demand is coming externally or internally—often becomes the catalyst for burn-out, depression and feelings of guilt. We pair this culture of excess with our inherited Protestant work ethic, the idea that we achieve salvation through works of righteousness, and there's a recipe for spiritual malaise.

Tom Ott and I recognized this cultural and Protestant recipe being cooked up in our midst over a year ago and began working with Wayne. We wanted coaching from someone who could help us discover another way, a rhythmic, sustainable way of embodying faith. I remember the first time I heard Wayne’s voice on the phone. There was blessed reassurance in his deep, thunderous tone. I felt an abiding calm the minute he opened his mouth and in most of our encounters I find myself in tears because the beauty of his presence overwhelms me and brings me home to the truth of who I am and who God is. Over the course of our sessions with him, I have discovered the true spirit of Sabbath (not as practice, but as embodiment) with/in Wayne Muller. His writing, his speaking, his praying, his suggestions, all of it brings me into a greater awareness of and faithfulness to the divine giftedness of this life which is enough.

And so, if you are burned out after Christmas, are disillusioned with this culture that’s compulsively calling you to busy-ness while simultaneously flushing your self-esteem down the toilet, or if you just want to take your shoes off and feel the holy ground unfolding as you walk upon the Earth—I want to invite you to journey with us, with Wayne Muller, for the next 10 weeks as we explore “A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough.”