Tag Archives: spiritual formation

Questions on Pilgrimage

Posted on February 16, 2008 | Leave a comment

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To journey without being change is to be a nomad.

To change without journeying is to be a chameleon.

To journey and be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim. ~Mark Nepo

I’ve been reading the latest issue of Hungry Hearts, which is dedicated to the pilgrimage… to journeying. I am left with many, many thoughts.

There is something central to human existence in the journey… the pilgrimage… even the road trip (I’m reminded of the movie, Elizabethtown). Unfortunately, we have lost, to a great extent, the significance in the midst of our busy, money-making, car-using lives. We drive around here and there in our own little worlds, listening to our own music, imagining that no one can touch us. Traveling, unless done cross-country, is far less significant than it perhaps could be.

I have not done a pilgrimage to any traditional holy places on this planet… Ireland, Jerusalem, Southeast Asia…. although there are plans and dreams for me of a journey to the sacred places in Celtic history. I do, though, know what it is like to be on a journey, to be transformed by that journey, knowing that the destination of travel is not the purpose, but the act of being on the journey itself is the destination and arrival. It is in this understanding that we arrive… to a place of being that is always, yet not yet, arriving.

Sometimes a hike in the morning… the warming sun causing a steam on the grass, with the slight cool breeze twisting and turning it… the birds waking, singing their morning song, while the squirrels rustle in the leaves… knowing the place I long to stumble upon, the place where prayer happens and I can sit and listen. This is a pilgrimage. Sometimes, a mountain bike ride… not so many sounds other than my bike and my own grunts and gasping for air… the burn of my lungs and the pounding of my heart… vision blurred as I encounter the next thing in front of me… yet knowing that I long for the summit, where I can finally go downhill, making for a totally different ride… A pilgrimage.

My question is this: What is it about the journey, the pilgrimage, that touches the core of our being? Where does the journey meet you?

Pilgrims often journey to the ends of the earth in search of holy ground, only to find that they have never walked on anything else. ~Scott Russell Sanders – Staying Put

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Posted in personal stuff, Questions, Quotes

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The “way” we are…

Posted on November 20, 2007 | Leave a comment

I have been thinking a lot about my own thought processes as I engage in relationships. One of my greatest strengths is to be able to see, hear, perceive beyond peoples’ words to really understand what they are thinking and feeling. I can tell a lot about a person by his face, her voice, the way someone “is.” Because of this, I am often able to relate to others pretty well and put myself in their place. There are certain things that really stand out to me that for many would not be as obvious.

This morning in our men’s group, something was made clear to me. There was a moment in our conversation when we expressed our joy in our willingness to share who we are and the enjoyment of getting to know each other. I realized that getting to know who someone is takes such a long amount of time; his story, his patterns, her emotional responses, her struggles and joys. These things come through significant interaction, time spent together, deep conversations. Often times, who we are can be deeply impacting for those who take the time to figure us out. But few, get that significant time. And maybe none can ever understand who we really are.

It seems to me that there is something that is even more deeply transformational for people. That is, the WAY we are. The way we are tends to stand out immediately. Are we hurried or are we able to be with someone in the moment? Are we peaceful and relaxed or are we tense and preoccupied? Do we emanate with a love and openness that invites sincerity, or do we come across as closed and judgmental thereby inviting superficiality?

It is the WAY we are that gives the invitation for others to desire to know who we are. Truly, I think this is what most people got from Jesus during his three years of ministry. He was saying often who he was… but how could anyone possibly get it?!? They missed it most of the time… interesting that in the texts that we have he didn’t talk about being born of a virgin, that he was of the family tree of David, that he was born in a manger. How disappointing for him that no one could possibly understand the oneness that he had with God, something that he talked about a lot… And yet, people could tell something was different about Jesus because of the WAY that he was. It was profoundly different. Perhaps there is something to this.

I guess it is my hope with our emerging Gathering that we can not only celebrate who we are, but that something would be happening in us that would change the way we are. When this begins to change, our interactions with those around us will be changed as well. This is my hope personally as well… who we are is our own thing… but the thing that spreads through my own interactions with people is a way of being. This is what I hope to bring to the world… or maybe just Bend, Oregon.

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Posted in Community, Ministry, personal stuff

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My problem with hands-off leadership…

Posted on November 14, 2007 | 3 Comments

After a conversation with our spiritual formation team at church, I am left with some very strong thoughts regarding leadership in the way of Jesus and in the context of religious history. I feel that in some of the churches that I have been a part of, I have left very frustrated with the tendency of the “official” leadership to be very removed from the relational side of being a leader and raising up leaders after him/her. There tends to be a distance from the “official” or professional church leaders and those who are not.

It comes down to this (and I’ve written on it before: From the Professional Elite to the Spiritual Director). I feel like we in the West have lost, to a great degree, a certain historical model of leadership… that being that each leader has at least one person under him that is being invested in, trained, and encouraged to develop leaders under him. It is based on the notion that our experiences, our wisdom, our growth into holiness, might actually be of some use to someone else. Some call it spiritual friendship, some call it spiritual direction, but it essentially comes down to simple yet radical discipleship. I know that I, and many others like me, ache to be invested in and committed to by even one person older than us. Lives change because of this.

The concept of leadership is a scary one to many… and I think it comes down to our idolization of professional leaders and the neglect of those of us in leadership to make it our intense mission to dismantle this. We no longer think of every person as a leader, we no longer act our our profession of “the priesthood of believers.” Every person in official, or professional leadership, whether it be in Christian community or even some other religion, should be asked, “What person is following your footsteps? What person are you seeking out to encourage into a leader?” For a vision to grow in a deep and significant way, for lives to be changed at the very roots, for a way of living to spread… perhaps a living in the kingdom of God and a heart tuned into the Holy Spirit… there needs to be relationship involved in leadership.

Jesus had twelve… he lived with them and they watched his every move. Many of the historical monastics, gurus, church fathers (Eastern especially) had individuals they were feeding into. We, though, in our current modern times have become privatized, individualistic, and when we leave the office, our work is done for the day. If we can somehow  move beyond this, I believe that there will be a more unified group of people beginning to look like Jesus at very deep levels and that people will begin to see themselves as the leaders they are meant to be… and we will not be alone on our journeys.

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Posted in Community, Ministry

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Spirituality of “Hanging out”

Posted on October 31, 2007 | 5 Comments

As a leader of a community following God in the way of Jesus, this concept of “hanging out” comes with so many mixed feelings. For me personally, it is a wonderfully exciting thing and filled with meaning, but I better explain the other side first. Perhaps it just my own insecurities of what people think I am doing, but I wonder why a church would ever support someone who just hangs out with people. Perhaps it seems to some that I am just making friends and calling that ministry. Perhaps it seems that we are just sitting around drinking coffee, a beer, playing games, or watching a movie. Where is the worth in this? Isn’t leadership supposed to be focused on saving souls (evangelical cynicism… sorry), getting people into the church, helping people feel good about life or maybe give money, helping them grow spiritually, or maybe just letting them know that the church really is there for them. These things don’t come to mind when I tell people that for the most part, I am simply committed to “hanging out” with people. It doesn’t seem purposeful enough.

My own excitement with hanging out stems from the idea that yes, all of those things that I mentioned above are wonderful, but things of real meaning, all those things above, don’t happen without a grounding in a  trusting relationship. At the core of hanging out is a desire to build trust and develop relationships. This, I think, should be at the core of how we do what we are called to do… that is, BE Jesus to the world. We do this through relationships. God has created us in his image, has he not? And isn’t his image, at the core, a relationship (the Trinity)? Love, sacrifice, peace, forgiveness, serving… all connected to relationship.

So as I continue on with my already fuzzy defined ministry of my life, I am beginning to really feel as though the classical sense of what a “pastor” is does not have to be the case. Do I want to be forced into busyness and stretched-thin-ness so that I cannot just hang out with people? What does it mean for me to be a leader… a spiritual leader, a leader that looks like Jesus…? How do I really make a difference with people in their lives? I would have to say I would rather show up at their house and sit on their couch than get them to show up and sit in a pew. I would probably rather spend 5 bucks and two hours over a good cup of coffee than to “donate” 25 bucks to a random nonprofit. I would rather have someone come over and watch a movie or play a game than hope that they “discover God” in “Sunday school.” Church is not in a building. Community, and relationship, and coffee, and beers… these are all church. God’s Spirit is here.

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Posted in Community, Ministry, Out and About in Bend, Questions

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Special visitor to Bend…

Posted on October 19, 2007 | Leave a comment

For anyone reading, I am excited to extend an invite to anyone interested… Karen Sloan will be spending an evening with us at First Presbyterian on Sunday, October 28 at 5:30pm. Karen has written a book, Flirting with Monasticism, and travels around the country speaking and connecting with various churches on areas of spiritual formation and the emerging church.

We will be having dinner together in Heritage Hall and will follow with conversation on spiritual formation and the emerging church. It will be very much a conversation, so come with questions and a desire to get to know others and be challenged. Our hope is to gather a number of groups from different churches and communities in Bend, Redmond, and Central Oregon. If you want more information, please leave a comment or contact me.

If you are a pastor or church leader, there may be opportunity for smaller group conversation on Monday. Again, contact me for more info.

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Posted in Community, Ministry

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