Ron Cole : unplugged, unorthodox, heretic

two views...the Kingdom, and hell

The Holy Man and the Lord

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day
and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”
The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and
the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round
table.

In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled
delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting
round the table were thin and sickly.

They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with
very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it
possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but
because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the
spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their
misery and suffering.

The Lord said, “You have seen Hell.”

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was
exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with
the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons,
but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said, “I don’t understand.” “It is simple” said the Lord,
“it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.”

( author unknown )

A' la carte...or Kingdom stories from Al and CARTS

 Jesus looked up then, and seeing the vast multitude that surrounded him and realizing they had traveled a great distance and were tired and hungry, he said to Philip, " Where are we to buy bread, so that all these people will be fed?" Jesus did this to prove, to test...to help Philip discover that mustard seed of faith that births the Kingdom into being.

Philip answered Jesus, " Forty dollars worth of bread is not even enough that everyone will receive more than a handful of crumbs. A few of the other disciples said there was some kid in the crowd with five barley loves and two small fish, hardly even appetizers for a crowd this size.

Jesus said, " make the people sit." The ground was covered 5000, it looked a multicolored carpet, humanity spread out before Jesus. Jesus took the loaves, praying gave thanks, gave it to the disciples and the disciples gave to the crowd. Jesus did the same with the fish. They had as much as they wanted.

When they had all had enough, Jesus asked the disciples to gather up all the broken pieces of fish and bread that were left over, so that nothing was lost or wasted. They returned astonished with twelve baskets of leftovers from 5 loaves, and two fish. ( from the opening of John 6. paraphrased )

   It's fascinating, as I'm writing and processing this at the same time, that Friday night at CARTS is a profound mysterious worship service...it is church with out the building. Someone just this week, I think Alan Hirsch tweeting back and forth said that the churches greatest sin was pouring concrete. He may be right, history and empty buildings will tell the real truth.

Anyways, at CARTS we do have our liturgy, which means, " the work of the people ". Everyone one is engaged in the reality of " Kingdom " worship, it is mysteriously vertical and horizontal...it is the love of God and neighbor.

Before we leave the parking lot behind the Capital 6 theater, we have a circle time...the volunteers, and our friends in the inner city and we join hands. It's not some join hands, we all join hands. There is a real sense of community. Feeling the cold, the roughness, the warmth, the squeeze of a hand; the smile, the sadness, the pain, the tear in a eye on a face...it's human, and we are all connected here in this place, and also to something much bigger.

My dear friend Al usually shares a short musing on the Kingdom, and a prayer before we make our rounds to " Our Place, Centennial Square, Street Link, the Salvation Army and the maze of streets in between. Last evening, Al shared the above story of Jesus feeding the multitude...it has always been one of my favorite.

First of let me say, I'm not a nay-sayer to miracles...I have witnessed them. Jesus could have fed 5000 people with what looked like a snack. If the mere sound of his voice can give rise to all creation, all that exists, then he can feed thousands with nothing much more than a happy meal. But, maybe weaved into the mysterious texture of this story is another miracle.

What would you call it, if you got 5000 people, the majority strangers, maybe from different cultures, different religious backgrounds. Maybe some were friends, maybe some were enemies. It was like a mix of poor, middle class and the rich. Lets call it a snap shot of humanity...in real time.

What would you call it...if you got 5000 people to share to the point where none was in need of more, and there was an abundance left over? What would you call that?

This is the freakin' reality of the Kingdom. When we live in the context of the Kingdom, miracles aren't so much miracles as they are the norm. It's mind blowing yes, because it turns our little worlds upside down. In the midst of Jesus, we all, humanity realizes it's poverty...and I'm not talking just food. We realize how impoverished we are with out the other. We need each other. And we need Jesus.

What must I do to gain eternal life, abundant life...the fullness of the Kingdom of God ; Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength...and to love the other. Live this and the Kingdom becomes a reality.

Just a Jesus asked Philip, " where are we to buy bread, for all these people to be fed." We can be overwhelmed by the multitudes, but we can grasp that mustard seed of faith...and Love, Love and Love. Love the other as much as we love God...and out of that share. Sharing not out of our left overs, but out of everything we have. Sharing to the point where humanity, creation is no longer in need. To the point where all are full, and there is an abundant left over. Then we can truly say, the Kingdom has come.

God...getting things done

That Jesus, knowing, fully aware that the Father had put everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was now returning to God,

Got up from supper, took off His garments, and taking a servant's towel, He fastened it around His waist.

Then He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the servant's towel with which He was girded. ( the gospel of John 13:2-5 paraphrased )

I'm absolutely freakin' blown away, it unravels me...I'm undone. The disciples have been with Jesus wandering the countryside, villages, towns, shorelines, hill tops and open waters for three years. They have heard the profound divine mystery of the Kingdom parables. They have seen and witnessed the miraculous power of Jesus in healing, casting out demons and lives made whole through forgiveness. The have experienced the cosmic force of grace that holds all existence together.

The next day Jesus will be brutally tortured and crucified. In the hour glass there is but a few grains of sand left in the life of God in human flesh. It is absolutely paramount that he show them what " God " is all about. So he grabs, a wash basin and a servants towel.

This is how God get's things done. If there was one image revealing the reality of the Kingdom. Let this be burnt in to minds, our hearts and soul.

the Kingdom is as close as...you want it to be

With Some friends on Monday over coffee and conversation, someone asked " What is the Kingdom?" I told him, that I've come to view it as an open door into a new way of living. I awaken every morning and I can make the conscious decision of living in the Kingdom...or I can settle for something far less.

We can get out our texts, and try and reduce the Kingdom to some theological construct, like a riddle to be solved. But it's like the truth of the parables, where we find truth as more mystery than certitude. We can only discover truth when we live out the profound fullness of the parables in every day moments in " real" time. It's lived in the reaction chamber of everyday life, the bumping, the mixing, the shaking and the grinding. It's moving in the fluidity of life, the mixing together of everything. It's in the interactions, and the connections that we can make the Kingdom tangible in action and word. It's the reality we can build it, like planting mustard seeds in the fertile ground of life. Really, if it can't be lived what good is it's truth.

The Kingdom is to realize there is a " King ". A King to which I, we swear our allegiance. As Paul proclaims to the Galatians...

 Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. ( Eugene Peterson's The Message )

This is an allegiance at the deepest, and most profound level...it is my prayer, that to see me, is to see the King. It is a life altering, life changing experience. It's as if some repressed gene from the embryonic origin of all that exists, as been switched " on ". I am a new person. And to live in the Kingdom is to live out the truth and reality of the gospels, it is the real map in which I navigate through life. It's a mysterious topographical map I drape over my daily living. A template, not rigid. But, fluid, flexible, elastic. If I have the eyes to see and the ears to hear, I will see and hear the characters of the gospels come to life around me. I will see myself with in the mystery of it's landscape, and in the world around me. And we navigate the topography of life with in the grid lines of the gospels by this internal GPS, the spirit of God will guide us into the truth of Jesus. This is the real truth, the full meal deal...not doctrine, dogma, church rules...it is the Word made flesh. Not a whole lot of reading, or fine print...just follow the living word across the landscape of life, period! Somehow, how ever profound and mysterious the truth of the Kingdom is found in the grid lines of the gospels.The Kingdom is living in the reality that we are reconciling agents of God. Living reconciled in the Kingdom, is to discover the height, depth and breadth of the love of God.

He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

The Kingdom is as near as you want it to be. You can awaken each and every day choosing to live in the Kingdom...or you can choose to live something far less. Faith is not a life of pursuing truth, or answers. Jesus did not announce ideas or call people to ascribe to a certain set of beliefs as much as he invited humanity to follow him into a new way living...to live in the reality of the Kingdom.

today, live in a moment

 

The landscape of daily living, with it's rhythm it's mysterious pulse...it is all fertile ground, sacred spaces. It's in these ticking moments, like sand through an hour glass that we have the amazing ability to alter, to change the next by living out of and in the reality of the Kingdom.

 

The landscape of daily living, with it's rhythm it's mysterious pulse...it is all fertile ground, sacred spaces. It's in these ticking moments, like sand through an hour glass that we have the amazing ability to alter, to change the next by living out of and in the reality of the Kingdom.

Jesus washed the feet of those he loved...could you wash plates

Poverty is on the increase. Working poor is becoming an ever increasing reality in the Victoria landscape. Single moms that might be able to afford a roof over their kids heads, can't afford food. BC has the lowest minimum working wage in all of Canada. Social programs are surgically amputated by the Provincial government, and it's victims are left to fend for themselves.

A place that has become an open table, of grace, hospitality and love is the Rainbow Kitchen over in Vic West, the corner of Henry and Catherine Streets; in St. Saviors a 118 year old Anglican Church. The volunteers come from a diversity of faith backgrounds; Anglicans, Lutherans, Salvation Army, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, mystics, seekers. Besides the smell of great food, and the homeless will tell you the RK serves the best lunches anywhere...there is a fragrance of love the permeates everyone and everything.

Most days there is a shortage of volunteers, especially where I work on Mondays in the " dish pit." I think almost everyone can remember a first job working in the dish pit of some restaurant. There's no glamor, and no glory...just cleaning up everyone else's mess. You can do the math and pretty much figure it out, the number of pots and pans, dinner plates, dessert plates, glasses, and coffee cups for feeding 120-150.

Anyways, we are short in the dish pit especially between 1:00pm and 2:30pm...we're desperate. How desperate...I'll tell you. The last few weeks there has been a retired priest, not much older than myself. She wears an apron, I don't know why. She says grace, we all used to take turns, but now we have a professional. So I guess much like the rubber stamp of the Canadian Standards Approval these prayers pass, are sanctified good. Anyways we were short and desperate, so I gently tapped her on the shoulder and said, " Jesus washed the feet of those he loved, and served...would you mind washing a few dishes."

You can contact the Rainbow Kitchen @ 250-384-8773 and ask for Walter, or you can send me an e-mail at  ( labmanster at gmail dot com ). Like I say if you can help out for an hour and half on any day, they would love to have you.

a common ethic of faith-filled conversation...Samir Selmanovic

There are many people within the " emerging conversation " that haven't even heard of Samir Selmanovic Likely because he's seen as even being on the fringe of the emerging church. He's a fresh voice in the midst of the noise of religious bullying to see who controls God in the sandbox of life. His Christian faith grew out of his Islamic culture. He offers not only Christianity, but all religions a way forward if humanity and creation have any hope of a future. Recently, he talks about the emerging church's dogma seen more as conversational.

Those of us in the emerging church have been asked, “What do you stand for, really?” Do we stand on shifting sand, without commitment, without convictions about right and wrong, without truths to defend and lies to attack, without anchors, or foundations, without a rudder or a spine? Without dogmas?

I think not.

There is a hill on which we are willing to die, and it is called conversation. We don’t think of conversation as a method of communication. Or as an agent of change, or even as a virtue. We see conversation as the teaching, the truth, the doctrine. We confess it. Conversation is deeply biblical, rooted in Christian history and theology, and, importantly, in the life and teachings of Jesus. Conversation involves incarnation, life, death, and resurrection, both God’s and ours. If you think of faith as something that can be lived outside of a continual experience of living and dying through conversation with the divine and human other, we emergents maintain that you are wrong, terribly wrong.

We believe in a conversation with our God, scripture, strangers, friends, enemies, saints, heretics, committee chairpersons, evangelists, our own soul, brother sun and sister moon!

This is the linchpin of the emerging church. We are as diverse as Christianity, but we hold conversation in common. It is how we pursue justice and beauty,  how we hope, where we find comfort. We converse with God and with one another, and our relationships hold us, like prayers.

You can read the rest of Samir's post here, and if you haven't read " It's really all about God "...read it.

"In a conversation, you always expect a reply. And if you honor the other party to the conversation, if you honor the otherness of the other party, you understand that you must not expect always to receive a reply that you foresee or a reply that you will like. A conversation is immitigably two-sided and always to some degree mysterious; it requires faith." ( Wendell Berry )

This is true - conversation is dogma for the emerging church. And in order to have real, meaningful conversations I try to always remember what Dwight Friesen said:

We value humility more than correctness, hospitality more than being set apart, curiosity more than tradition; in fact theological agreement is not a primary goal for us, we expect to disagree and do frequently. Dwight Friesen ( from “Emergent Village and Full Communion” )

emerging Christianity...Fr. Richard Rohr

Perhaps the terms “Emerging Church”, or “Emerging Christianity” are new to you and seem strange, or vague? Is this the product of yet another reforming zeal? The terms are being used in different ways today, some of which are tremendously exciting and others of which miss the point. But it is my belief that something very important is happening around us, and within us. This “something”, I would argue, is a revolutionary change in Christian consciousness itself. It is a change of mind and a change of heart that has been a long time coming, but which I believe indicates our new receptivity towards the Holy Spirit. In the last 50 years, several significant developments have taken place, both within and alongside the various Christian Churches, which foster this movement. Emerging Christianity is a movement in all the Churches more than a structural reform of any one Church. Movements are the energy-building stages of things, before they start to take on characteristics of monuments, museums or machines. The question for us is: “can we keep this consciousness at the dynamic movement level?”

Spiritual globalization is allowing Churches worldwide to benefit from these breakthroughs at approximately the same time, which of itself, I believe, is a new kind of Reformation. No one is controlling, or limiting this movement. We are all just trying to listen together. It might be helpful to identify 10 historical developments that I see are propelling Emerging Christianity:

Read more...Here.

It's really all about God...

For years, I've been talking about the three monotheistic religions to nonbelievers. And here is what I here : " At best, Jews, Christians and Muslims look like three religious stooges in a slapstick comedy. At worst, they look like three brothers with hands clasped in prayer and soaked in blood." We have littered history with incredible amounts of stupidity, injustice and suffering.

In every relationship, there comes a threshold when mere apologies will not do anymore. It seems we have crossed that line.

The world has simply had it with us. Nobody is listening anymore. Until we embrace the limitations of our own creaturehood, we have nothing more to say or do to make the difference we were meant to make in the world.

The mission is over. Monotheism will either die or evolve.

If you read one book this year, read Samir Selmanovic's " It's Really All About God " It is a game changer, he raises the stakes of all religion. Finally a voice comes offering hope at the collision of religions in the intersection of life.

pain, sorrow and suffering...prayers for Michael

I just heard through the community of faith bloggers, that our dear friend Michael Spencer's prognosis in not at all all good. I've never met Michael face to face but am an ardent reader of his blog, and a listener of his podcasts...it is through those spaces we've communicated. But this recent news, although may have been imminent, it is still tragic and shocking. For me it has opened past wounds, and touched fragile nerve endings.

I have always struggled with pain and suffering, the thought that God is always with you in the midst of it. The words, " he will never leave you or fore sake you ", that we toss in the direction of those whose world lays in rubble around their feet.

I think there are times on the grand stage of life, when a crisis of pain and suffering happen and the director/producer seem to have left the scene. The camera is left running. There is no one to explain what just happened, why it happened...or how the rest of the story will evolve. It's a freeze frame moment. You are stunned. Life's breath seems to have been sucked out of you. The hard drive in your head whirls frantically, trying to compute to make sense out of anything. In your free fall, you search for anything to hang on to.

I understand the concept of God being the great " I am ", the beginning, the end and every thing in between. But, there are times, when...you are on stage alone.

The Psalmist muses, All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

What does that mean?

Did God have script already written for me stashed away in the heavenly archives filed under the " R's "?Did he pull it out during that night of lust, on a cold 1952 December night in Whitehorse when Wally and Eleanor were getting down to business? Did God yell, " Action ", and I prepared to enter the stage of life.

Did it unfold as initially written? Or is the script being edited as the act of living my life unfolds?

Can I proclaim with the certitude of the Psalmist, or do I imagine something else?

In the summer of 1996 my youngest brother a diabetic, home alone in his apartment had an insulin reaction that escalated rapidly out of control...he ended up dying, only three feet away from the syringe and insulin that could have saved his life. He would not be found until three days later.

Was this the script that was written by a grand director/ producer, that my brother, a character in this incredible story of life was to unknowingly act out in his brief moment on stage. Did God really write all this out: create character; male; genetic illness, diabetes; triggered into action late 20's; male character dies early 30's three feet from medication that could save him; character exits stage, scene over...over all story continues?

Enter, pain and suffering...my world lay in rubble at my feet. As if hit by the wind of a hurricane, my well constructed faith was scattered debris in all directions. And the director, where was he/she...suddenly the stage, the theater was empty. The lights had been turned out, not even an " exit " light illuminated a path for escape. I was alone...utterly alone.

" I will never leave you or fore sake you ", " all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" Where was the director, and who would write such a bizarre sick script and expect us to faithfully act it out. For months I tried to digest the above words. They only added to my pain and suffering, they tormented me. I had so many questions. I wept, I screamed into the depth of the darkness that seemed to be swallowing me. I heard nothing...nothing, not even a whisper.

It seemed the only person I could relate to was Job. If the script I was living out was shit, Job's script was absolutely insane. Just when things couldn't possibly get any worse, they got worse. And Job had questions. If there was a script, he wanted answers...why!!!

But what pissed me off was, Job did finally get to question God. But in an even more bizarre twist, Job's why questions were thrown back to him with more questions from God. So in the end, did Job fair better than me? Sure he was restored, life returned to normal...even better than normal, but there really was no answer to his pain and suffering. About the only thing Job could say with certitude was God is God. That some how he is the beginning, the end and everything in between. But as to how it all works, how the script comes into play...the actors, the scenes, pain, tragedy and suffering...still so many questions.

For months, I embraced my pain, suffering, sorrow. It was breakfast, lunch and dinner. I lived in the midst of an emotional storm of anger. I came to realize my well constructed faith is fragile, something to be held lightly, and that in pain, sorrow and loss it sometimes breaks. In the end, I pick up pieces, not all the pieces...and I learn to live with new faith.

I believe there are times when we are alone. I believe there is a script to my life, but that it is a script of such imagination that I will never understand it...at least not here, on the stage in which I act out my part.

Pain, suffering and sorrow, are they pre-written into the intimate scripts of our lives? I don't think so. But they are a reality of everyday life. They torment us, and haunt us with never ending questions that we very seldom find answers to. They test faith, reconfigure, and reconstruct faith. And in the end, we likely find like Job did...God is truly God, miraculously he is the beginning, and the end...and everything in between.

I think we find God in the midst of friends, family who hold us, love us, hug us, and cry with us. They some how lift us carry us when we are too weak to even move. It is the hands, the face, the words of the God who is love coming into being. Mysteriously it is Emmanuel...God with us, in the midst of pain suffering and sorrow.

Michael, Denise family and friends...know that you are surrounded in a cloud of prayers of friends close and distant. May you feel the profound presence of Jesus, may you feel his comfort, and peace.

When my road leads into dark storms,
You will light up my eyesight.
When I fall on hard ground,
You will lift me up to rise.

When I face hardship and scorn,
We will together share our portion.
When I suffer in a hopeless sickbed,
We will together battle in each breath.

When I'm lost alone and lingering,
You will be with me, and guide me home.
One day I'll die and depart,
But I truly believe
You will lift me up.

O God, our Savior, listen to our prayer.
Fill our hunger, heal our sickness,
Comfort our souls.
If you wish not to answer,
Then please wait for us,
Because we are about to shut our eyes.

(unknown)

I just heard through the community of faith bloggers, that our dear friend Michael Spencer's prognosis in not at all all good. I've never met Michael face to face but am an ardent reader of his blog, and a listener of his podcasts...it is through those spaces we've communicated. But this recent news, although may have been imminent, it is still tragic and shocking. For me it has opened past wounds, and touched fragile nerve endings.

I have always struggled with pain and suffering, the thought that God is always with you in the midst of it. The words, " he will never leave you or fore sake you ", that we toss in the direction of those whose world lays in rubble around their feet.

I think there are times on the grand stage of life, when a crisis of pain and suffering happen and the director/producer seem to have left the scene. The camera is left running. There is no one to explain what just happened, why it happened...or how the rest of the story will evolve. It's a freeze frame moment. You are stunned. Life's breath seems to have been sucked out of you. The hard drive in your head whirls frantically, trying to compute to make sense out of anything. In your free fall, you search for anything to hang on to.

I understand the concept of God being the great " I am ", the beginning, the end and every thing in between. But, there are times, when...you are on stage alone.

The Psalmist muses, All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

What does that mean?

Did God have script already written for me stashed away in the heavenly archives filed under the " R's "?Did he pull it out during that night of lust, on a cold 1952 December night in Whitehorse when Wally and Eleanor were getting down to business? Did God yell, " Action ", and I prepared to enter the stage of life.

Did it unfold as initially written? Or is the script being edited as the act of living my life unfolds?

Can I proclaim with the certitude of the Psalmist, or do I imagine something else?

In the summer of 1996 my youngest brother a diabetic, home alone in his apartment had an insulin reaction that escalated rapidly out of control...he ended up dying, only three feet away from the syringe and insulin that could have saved his life. He would not be found until three days later.

Was this the script that was written by a grand director/ producer, that my brother, a character in this incredible story of life was to unknowingly act out in his brief moment on stage. Did God really write all this out: create character; male; genetic illness, diabetes; triggered into action late 20's; male character dies early 30's three feet from medication that could save him; character exits stage, scene over...over all story continues?

Enter, pain and suffering...my world lay in rubble at my feet. As if hit by the wind of a hurricane, my well constructed faith was scattered debris in all directions. And the director, where was he/she...suddenly the stage, the theater was empty. The lights had been turned out, not even an " exit " light illuminated a path for escape. I was alone...utterly alone.

" I will never leave you or fore sake you ", " all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" Where was the director, and who would write such a bizarre sick script and expect us to faithfully act it out. For months I tried to digest the above words. They only added to my pain and suffering, they tormented me. I had so many questions. I wept, I screamed into the depth of the darkness that seemed to be swallowing me. I heard nothing...nothing, not even a whisper.

It seemed the only person I could relate to was Job. If the script I was living out was shit, Job's script was absolutely insane. Just when things couldn't possibly get any worse, they got worse. And Job had questions. If there was a script, he wanted answers...why!!!

But what pissed me off was, Job did finally get to question God. But in an even more bizarre twist, Job's why questions were thrown back to him with more questions from God. So in the end, did Job fair better than me? Sure he was restored, life returned to normal...even better than normal, but there really was no answer to his pain and suffering. About the only thing Job could say with certitude was God is God. That some how he is the beginning, the end and everything in between. But as to how it all works, how the script comes into play...the actors, the scenes, pain, tragedy and suffering...still so many questions.

For months, I embraced my pain, suffering, sorrow. It was breakfast, lunch and dinner. I lived in the midst of an emotional storm of anger. I came to realize my well constructed faith is fragile, something to be held lightly, and that in pain, sorrow and loss it sometimes breaks. In the end, I pick up pieces, not all the pieces...and I learn to live with new faith.

I believe there are times when we are alone. I believe there is a script to my life, but that it is a script of such imagination that I will never understand it...at least not here, on the stage in which I act out my part.

Pain, suffering and sorrow, are they pre-written into the intimate scripts of our lives? I don't think so. But they are a reality of everyday life. They torment us, and haunt us with never ending questions that we very seldom find answers to. They test faith, reconfigure, and reconstruct faith. And in the end, we likely find like Job did...God is truly God, miraculously he is the beginning, and the end...and everything in between.

I think we find God in the midst of friends, family who hold us, love us, hug us, and cry with us. They some how lift us carry us when we are too weak to even move. It is the hands, the face, the words of the God who is love coming into being. Mysteriously it is Emmanuel...God with us, in the midst of pain suffering and sorrow.

Michael, Denise family and friends...know that you are surrounded in a cloud of prayers of friends close and distant. May you feel the profound presence of Jesus, may you feel his comfort, and peace.

When my road leads into dark storms,
You will light up my eyesight.
When I fall on hard ground,
You will lift me up to rise.

When I face hardship and scorn,
We will together share our portion.
When I suffer in a hopeless sickbed,
We will together battle in each breath.

When I'm lost alone and lingering,
You will be with me, and guide me home.
One day I'll die and depart,
But I truly believe
You will lift me up.

O God, our Savior, listen to our prayer.
Fill our hunger, heal our sickness,
Comfort our souls.
If you wish not to answer,
Then please wait for us,
Because we are about to shut our eyes.

(unknown)

theology after google...streaming live

This from

Callid Keefe-Perry, an emerging Quaker...

 

 

Via their website:

Why “theology after Google”?

Progressive Christian theologians have some vitally important things to say, things that both the church and society desperately need to hear. The trouble is, we tend to deliver our message using technologies that date back to Gutenberg: books, academic articles, sermons, and so forth. We aren't making effective use of the new technologies, social media, and social networking. When it comes to effective communication of message, the Religious Right is running circles around us.

Hence the urgent need for a conference to empower pastors, laypeople, and the up-and-coming theologians of the next generation to do “theology after Google,” theology for a Google-shaped world. Thanks to the Ford funding, we’ve been able to assemble a stellar team of cultural creatives and experts in the new modes of communication. We are also inviting a selection of senior theologians, and well as some of the younger theologians (call them “theobloggers”) whose use of the new media (blogging, podcasts, YouTube posts) is already earning them large followings and high levels of influence. For two and a half days, in workshops and in hands-on sessions, in lectures and over drinks, these leading figures will be at your disposal to teach you everything they know.

The Theology After Google conference is coming up this week, and Callid thought that folks might be interested in some of his contributions there. (They're bringing Callid in as one of those theobloggers)  Particularly: Members of the Religious Society of Friends, folks interested in theopoetics, and hermeneutics nerds. The full schedule is here, and is all set to Pacific Standard Time. 

The main setup is like TED talks, and will all be live streaming here: tinyurl.com/tag10stream .

Be sure to check it out a great line up of speakers...should be some great conversation.