faith

"But many religious folks insist on answers that are always true. We love closure, resolution and clarity, while thinking that we are people of "faith"! How strange that the very word "faith" has come to mean its exact opposite."

Richard Rohr

Read more here.

family-ing

I have discovered this awesome website called This I Believe.

I read an essay this morning about the word 'family' being a verb; as in I have been 'familied' by some of my good friends, or we can 'family' each others in our communities. Since facebook can be a verb, seems to fit that family can too?!

Check out the full text here. Surf around this site, I promise it will not be a waste of time!

Cheers- I hope you're feeling loved and familied by many!! And that you're having opportunities to offer familying to those around you. :)

k

FUN

A 2009 Resolution was FUN - and having more of it!! That got a little lost somewhere between January and now - but while we were in Winnipeg, we made up for lost time. (which is not to say we haven't had any fun since January - we have - but more is always good!)

I asked most people we hung out with to talk to me about fun. I made a word collage (above) with the responses. (click on it to see better) (you can make these too, at wordle.net.)

Lots of our FUN times were captured on film...

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Lorrie - in front of the Bay Downtown - when we found out the Art Gallery was closed :(

TJ - being bribed with chocolate eggs to sit with me on Easter Sunday.

Karen and I got a bag of hand me down clothes that had matching shirts..

so we wore them in to S'toon for pedicures.

Best friends reunited, red rubber hats and all!

at Lawson Heights Wave pool - so fun!I did not take the photo of this poem... Bren thought it was rather hilarious. (Check out the art store at Johnston Terminal. There were lots of obscure signs there!)
(If you can't read the quote, it says: Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor every morning, Satan says: "Oh shit, she's awake.") This was actually written for you, Helen.

HAPPY Glasses! Definitely part of the fun.


Yes, he did ride it all around the store.

Boats made for racing in the gutters as water drains toward the sewer... Not sure if this was the winning boat?!?

43 things

so.. perhaps I'm reinventing myself?! I bought this book today at Kite and Kaboodle at Johnston Terminal at the Forks. Of course I love a whole book about lists!!

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a

Self-Improving Extroverted Believer

community

What follows are some excerpts from a post of Jamie's, found here in full. (he's referring to his inner city context of planting a missional church) He says a few things that resonate deeply with where I am right now, especially in terms of church. I haven't been engaging of late with the larger church family we're part of. It's a season of evaluating what I really believe; sort of like looking at all the pieces of a broken puzzle and putting them back together. That's where I am... looking at all the pieces and wondering how to fit them back in place. I absolutely know they do fit together; there just are some things I believed that I'm wondering how to fit back into place. In the meantime, I'm so thankful to be experiencing amazing 'church' community and family outside of the 'traditional' context.

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The Community Longing To Be The Church

Let me introduce you to The Community Longing To Be The Church.
There are many of us, but too often we feel very much alone. We are community because we are all too aware of our need for others and for God. We are a community that prefers walking together, even in our brokenness, than being alone in a pretense of togetherness. We are united by relationship and longing, not achievement or strength.
For us, generosity is a matter of survival, for without each other, many of us would go hungry. We try to give what we have to each other, though our selfish nature regularly rears its head in very “reasonable” rationalization. We offer hospitality, opening our homes and lives to welcome the other, though we don’t always like the smells and we too often keep a hand guardedly on our stuff. But we try and we are blessed and humbled in the process.

We are The Community Longing To Be The Church.
Our success is measured by our faithfulness to God, each other our neighbours and (when we find the time) Creation- which is a stretch in the midst of busy lives and broken relationships. We celebrate even the smallest triumphs of life and faith, because the small victories are all we can hope for at the moment. We’ll leave the revolution to the better equipped.
We are ruthlessly committed to people over programs, and since the latter generally requires money (of which we have little), that is probably a good thing. We cooperate and co-create, trying to resist the impulse to let “the leaders” do it all. Sometimes we are even successful in said resistance. We know what is ideal, but need to want it enough to pay the price.

We are The Community Longing To Be The Church.
Each among us wants to lead, but most of like the authority more than the responsibility. We believe that everyone has something valuable to bring, so we work hard to embrace and celebrate each person. We are tested in this by the idiocy, immaturity and inexplicable behaviour that everyone displays at one time or another. We believe we will find Christ in them, but it is very hard to do at times- as hard as others seeing Him in us. We learn to live with the contradictions and inconsistencies among us, not out of defeat or lack of caring, but out a realism born of experience.
We find in those difference, instead of division, the seeds of learning, humility and love, even when born out of conflict among us. His grace is ever needed as we seek to come together in His image.

We are The Community Longing To Be The Church.

We live in the paradox of longing to become while already being. We are the Church. We are the Body. And yet we are so far from it. In this tension- in our sin and selfishness- we discover our desperate need for God and even, often grudgingly, for each other. We love God with all our hearts, but those hearts are divided. So we come together, through His Spirit to seek the love of the Father as we seek to become more like the Son. And we see that this is achieved in the chaos and brokenness of the Cross. Our hope is that, as we are poured out by and for Him, we can become the community He has created us to be. It is here that we discover the deeper truth:

We are The Community Longing To Become Christ.

Thanks, Jamie - Its amazing how you can write something from your experience and context, and it can connect so well with someone else's situation.

thinking about calling

Its an interesting thing to consider; 'calling'.

Its most often referred to in a spiritual context, as in 'I felt called/led to that relationship, place, idea, ministry...'

I've heard some say that we're only called in general terms, not specific ones. As in, I'm called to love others, it doesn't matter where or how I love them, as long as I do love them. There is no shortage of people needing to be loved.

I can identify with this. It is important that we're open, surrendered, ready - and the details are less relevant than our willingness. (It will all fall into place if we're positioned and available.)As much as the above concept makes total sense,

it breaks down a bit for me based on my own experiences.

For example, one of many things I learned from inner city ministry was that hope (solutions, even?) are found in healthy, encouraging relationships and in sharing community. Programs are much less effective than relationships. Perhaps the most helpful formula is genuine relationship within programs that address genuine needs. Undoubtedly, though - good relationships are needed more than good programs. Continuing on this path.. could it be that a really great way to grow community, to offer hope, to let one's light shine may be to live in the inner city?? You're not alone if this concept is threatening. ("Are you suggesting everyone needs to live in the inner city? That God doesn't need people to live in the suburbs, towns?!?") Most people are immediately defensive upon contemplating this idea. (what does that say about us?.. another post, perhaps...)

I have often thought that there are more people 'called' than there are people who are 'responding' when it comes to an area where I have experience; the inner city. Therefore, at least sometimes, calling IS specific, it IS pointing to a certain place or concept.

We know God 'appoints'.

Are you listening? Are you threatened, fearful?

"You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him.."

Nehemiah 9:7-8