Ron Cole : off the map...navigating life.

Christmas...for Christ's sake let's leave Jesus out of our ritual

Yeah, I Know...Bah! hum bug. I'm a party pooper. I haven't always been this way...it's been a forty year journey to this point. It's been processing, digesting the word of God. Sometimes it stays down. Sometimes you puke it up...because it's too unsettling in the pit of your stomach. But this year, what I've metabolized has likely turned into what for many will be a heretical revelation. For anyone that would like to hear, join me...for those of you that don't, press escape.

I've never been big on predestination. That life is somehow a scripted play, that we are all actors living it out on a big stage word for word. Do we really enter and exit the stage as directed? Can we the actors change the course of the play, or are there really strings attached to each one of us that limits our movement.

Maybe...there is no script. Maybe, it is one of the most mysteriously profound relationships that anyone of us can imagine, including God. Maybe, faith is this fragile relationship in which we are willing to chance trust in God...and God trust in us.

And, if there is something that holds this relationship together...it is " Justice and Righteousness ." This is the strand, more than anything that seems to knit God and Humanity together. Through the prophets, through to the prophetic revelation of Jesus becoming a fulfilled reality. The strand of Justice and Righteousness holds it all together.

How often, maybe we unconsciously recite the Lord's Prayer, the opening words...

 

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done,

in earth as it is in heaven.

 

The words of Isaiah and Jeremiah should haunt us. " The Lord is exalted," proclaims Isaiah, " He dwells on high; He filled Zion with justice and righteousness." ( Isa 33:5 ) And, Jeremiah speaking in the name of God, " I act with steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight."

The reality, and life of the relationship is that Justice and Righteousness flows from God to us...and from us through out all creation. This is the reality of " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In this profound mysterious truth " God and Humanity " dwell together in the most powerful vibrant harmony. This is the power and beauty of the Kingdom that defies all imagination.

Prophet after prophet spoke the same thing, God's will for " Justice and Righteousness." Our lofty worship, our pious words, our legal rituals and laws...our sacrifice...brought no delight to our heavenly Father. One thing he delighted in, and one thing he desired...Justice and Righteousness.

But in our " Self " fixation. We with our myopia have only been able to see Justice and Righteousness as being about " Us." The apple thing in the garden. Bad deserves punishment. If the bad are punished, justice has been served...things are made right.

Big question...could things be put right if humanity radically took God at his word and lived out " Justice and Righteousness." You can't help but listen to the prophets...and begin to think, maybe.

Micah, I think wondered and asked the same question...

How can I stand up before God 
   and show proper respect to the high God?
Should I bring an armload of offerings 
   topped off with yearling calves?
Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, 
   with buckets and barrels of olive oil?
Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, 
   my precious baby, to cancel my sin?

 But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, 
   what God is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, 
   be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously— 
   take God seriously. ( Mic 6:6-8 )

And from the prophet Jeremiah, " This is God's Message: Attend to matters of justice. Set things right between people. Rescue victims from their exploiters. Don't take advantage of the homeless, the orphans, the widows. Stop the murdering!" ( Jer 22:3 )

I think the tragedy of Christmas, is it is so much about " us "...God entered into the midst of humanity to forgive us our sin. When incredibly it is about the divine redemptive imagination of the God of ALL creation, birthed into the midst of humanity...recreating, speaking and breathing a new Genesis into humanity. It is the pulse, and passion of His heart...His delight in justice and righteousness. It is the profound reality of His Kingdom."

That has become our fixation, " Sin. " Him being punished on our behalf, our debt to God paid.It is something we worship so much that we are blind to Justice and Righteousness...the reality that truly restores our relationship with God.

Could it be God grew weary of sending prophets, repeating the same message over and over again...to a humanity that was growing increasingly deaf to anything God had to say.

Could it be that God got to some point between the beginning and the end and said, " @#$% ^* ", And grabbed his mustard seed of faith...a profound incredibly mysterious part of himself...birthing himself into the womb of humanity. 

If humanity couldn't listen to the prophets words about Justice and Righteousness...maybe humanity could see and hear the reality of God's Justice and Righteousness in their midst. That seed that was birthed into the womb of humanity was the Son of God. Jesus was birthed outside religion, birthed on the margins of humanity, birthed in poverty, injustice and oppression. It was here Jesus became the living reality of God's Justice and Righteousness. It is here, he called humanity to follow into God's Righteousness and Justice. If we believed, if we followed, if we lived it...it would be God's Kingdom on earth as in heaven.

The question that haunts me this Christmas is...could it be that Jesus didn't sacrifice himself for our sin, but we killed him, because...Justice and Righteousness are just too costly? This Christmas, are you thinking more about worship...or Justice and Righteousness? I wonder what gift God would delight in?

 In the radical scandalous redemptive imagination of Jesus...I think he imagined that something would be birthed much more redemptive than a christmas ritual. Sadly, we think he came for our forgiveness...when he came to reveal the Father's will, the Father's passion, what the Father truly delights in. Justice and Righteousness for " ALL " humanity.

Advent...waiting, impregnating humanity with God

    ( image courtesy of Ben Bell )

 

 

It, defies logic, but, I believe.

I believe the mystery of Advent is new creation.

I believe in the Spirit of God, as in the beginning,

hovered over a poor marginalized girl on the fringe of society.

I believe in her vulnerability, openness and willingness,

the Spirit impregnated her with the presence of God.

I believe the same Word as in the beginning became flesh.

I believe for a time humanity nurtured God.

I believe as in the beginning the Word spoke creation into existence,

and from the womb of humanity, the Word made flesh speaks a new creation.

I believe now through God the Father, and Son the Word...the Spirit hovers,

speaking, ready to bring the new creation into being.

God with us, God within us,

building a new creation.

The Kingdom.

I believe.

( by Ron Cole ; 30th November 2009 )

 

a journey into Advent :: The Place

A special evening of creativity to journey across the threshold in to the profound mystery of Advent...

Hi - Thought you might like to know about a special event we're having for Advent in Cafe Suburbia at Lambrick Park Church.  

I've attached a couple of posters here that have the details on where, when and what.  As to "who":  we've got Cindy Davis,  Ryan MacLeod (music), Matthew Davidson (music and spoken word), Carla Funk (poetry),  Kristy Westendorp (spoken word), Janet Doherty,  Jason Nobel & James Nesbitt (art), Rob Campbell (photography)...

The evening starts at 7 PM and will include a 1 hour Advent program /service.

If you would like to know more, feel free to contact me.   And please - spread the word / share the poster to others you think might be interested to come.

peace, hope, joy and love,

Christine Neufeld 

from baby...to the Cosmic Christ

This time of year, life is like the last big down hill of a roller coaster ride as we speed recklessly towards the day. But this year, It's my prayer that we would take time to pause, to sit, and to think deeply about life. To breathe in deeply the relationship between Jesus, creation and humanity. Don't let it be a fleeting thought, like a gust of wind, here for a second and then gone. Keep breathing it in, until it rests in that place where the psalmist says, " deep calls to deep."

Jesus was around long before his embryonic human presence would form in the womb of an unwed marginalized young woman. And then birthed into humanity on that starry night in the filth and stench of a stable. We seem so easily caught up in the nostalgia of the Christmas scene...

Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head

The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay

It's as if the scene has lulled us to sleep. We have forgotten the awesome nature of this Jesus. Whose name should leave us breathless. Where we are left silent, mouths open in awe, lost for words. Even with the limits of our imagination we come to an edge where we are left reaching, but never touch. He is the Word, through which all creation came in to being, from atoms to galaxies.

This structure of complexity, of infinite power and wisdom, of such unity that none can exist separately...it is the origin of all existence, likely beyond the physicists imagination of a pre-Big Bang theory. It is here God, the creator; the Son, the Word; and Spirit, the Power existed as something infinitely beyond human imagination, and unseen. Yet, infinitely immense as to fill everything from beginning to end.

Into a dark murky void of nothingness the Creator thought, and the Word spoke, and like wind the power moved, there was light...creation began.

In the opening of John's Gospel the writer says. " In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him." And, that the Word, Jesus made his dwelling among us. 

This is Christmas, the Word becoming flesh, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah...Emmanuel, God with us. And out of this comes the redemptive imagination of God, the Word comes speaking, and revealing a new creation. In Jesus, the Kingdom would be near, that the Kingdom would be among us.

This new creation comes through reconciliation of Jesus...

^15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

 ^18-20He 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. ( From Colossians 1, Eugene Peterson's, The Message )

However we see this reconciliation happening we merely scratch the surface of the radical scandalous redemptive imagination of Jesus. To make this reconciliation solely a personal event is to make creation all about us, a creation just for us, and a creation outside of us. We are woven into the very fabric of creation. It is the very fabric, every strand and fiber, seen and unseen that Christ has come to redeem, restore to reconcile to himself. To restore the original relationship with "all" creation.

Against the backdrop of all that is going on here on planet earth,  I pause this Christmas, sit, reflect and breathe in deeply not an image of a baby...but of a cosmic Christ. More than ever, we are at time when the fragility of life stares us in the face. In a sense we are no more further along in this human journey than when we decided in the garden that we would eat from the tree of knowledge and become our own gods. That we could control our own destiny, create our own eternal life. Thousands of years later our own eternity has become our delusion. Our own wisdom, knowledge and technology can not save us. Humanity stands on a road in which we see unavoidably, has a dead end. We stand in a place where we have exhausted every effort to save ourselves. With all money spent, all wisdom spent...we are only left to hope.

And there is only one hope, and that is the truth, the way and the life of a Cosmic Christ. There is a way forward, and it is the way of Jesus. He came, pitched his tent in our neighborhood. He showed us, and lived the life of what it is to be truly human. He showed us life consists of an intimate relationship with God, creation and humanity. This relationship must be cultivated, nurtured, that when it is lived to the fullest we find wisdom, life...and a true revelation of the Kingdom.

So this Christmas let the Cosmic Christ capture your imagination. Let the Cosmic Christ reign in our life. Don't just slot him into some small vacant place in your life. Center your life in everything that He and His Kingdom are about. Learn to give, learn to sacrifice...to live with less. Learn to embrace all of humanity, not the colors and languages you like. Learn to care, to rekindle the covenant that the creator gave us in the garden...that we would be good stewards of all of it. There is Hope this Christmas, in the reality and totality of a Cosmic Christ.

I close from these words of a dear friend that I've come to know over the past few months. A friendship in which we both search for the truth of the Kingdom, and these words come from seeing the Kingdom unfold on Victoria's inner city streets...

Peace on Earth isn't impossible.  It has already started with you and me.
If you have seen the light in the eyes of one of our family when they have been blessed with a cup of hot chocolate, a treat, or a piece of warm clothing, you have seen a glimpse of Peace on Earth.
If you have noticed the gentleness (usually!) that this rough and ready crew exhibit towards each other when we are around, you have seen a little bit of Peace on Earth.
If you have been able to give (and receive) a hug from one of the 'least of these', you know that you have planted some seeds of Peace on Earth.
Whatever your theology might be, you have to recognize that doing what we do helps bring about the Peace on Earth that the angels sang about.

Merry Christmas...to ALL.

the ebb and flow of the inner city...

In all life there is an ebb and flow. Circumstances of life are like a tidal force, that have the ability to change our personal landscapes. On the inner city streets the tides are dramatic, with mountainous highs, and cavernous lows. Every second Wednesday is a high tide, welfare cheques feed addictions and fill the wallets of dealers. Everyone seems to know the rhythm of the tides. Dealers know exactly when the high tide is, when cheques have been cashed and they wait for the bodies to wash ashore where they wait like beach combers. Even the police understand the ebb and flow of the inner city, their presence far more visible when the tide is high. Many might call it a sea of despair. But in the dramatic ebb and flow I see calm...I see hope.

We had a couple of new volunteers on Friday, ( M ) who suffers from schizophrenia and addiction has finally got his life back on track. He's received lots of help dealing with his problems, and would like to give a little back. He works as a janitor for a local restaurant in which his work day begins at 7:00 am. He's excited to have the job and a fresh start. But, he has a bit of a glitch. He commutes by bus from out in the Western Communities, and the issue is getting to work on the weekends. Bus schedules on weekends are notoriously bad, so it means he rides his bike, about 20 miles. Yes, he could take a cab, but making  $8.86 / hr...you do the math. He's got an ad on Craigslist, so if you know of anyone coming into town that early on the weekends, check it out.

Also a couple of young ladies who work with mental health ( D ) and ( T ), it was great to have someone with there experience.

CARTS = Christian Action Reflecting The Spirit, and on the street we move in the truth of that Spirit, and it moves in and around in the midst of everything, and everyone. It is dangerous, and it is exciting to live in that mysterious moment. Before we headed out on the street from the parking lot Al gathered everyone for prayer. There was a pause while we settled and out the silence came the voices of a couple of our street community friends, asking if they could pray. ( S ) prayed a prayer of thanksgiving, and gratefulness for what we had, and prayed for Godspeed among his friends. Another friend, intoxicated, could still find some clarity to pray for the lives we have received, to live life...and for freedom. Al, closed affirming the words of all our friends, and off we went on to the streets.

This night I was manning the cart with toques, mitts, gloves, scarves, and for the past week there has been a really bright red, almost Santa Claus red toque and scarf to be given out. Red does not appear to be a popular color on the street. So by the time we got down to Street Link some asked me if I had got rid of the red toque. " Nope ", I said, " no one wants them." Minutes later this old guy, maybe in his mid to late 70's comes over to me and asks, if I have a red toque. For sure, I thought one of my friends put him up to it. No, he seriously wants the red toque...and the scarf.

I have to tell you. Yes the guy has white hair and white beard. He tells me a story of when he was a bit younger, of when his hair was longer, and his beard was full. He used to wear a red jacket, and red toque he'd be sitting in the park while out walking, and kids would come over, want to hold his hand thinking he was Santa. We talked a little more, and Charon took our picture. I think I'll use it in my Christmas cards next year.

So on the inner city streets there is an ebb and flow of high and low tides in which we see the geography of personal lives change. But also in the midst of it all the Spirit moves in and around, in the midst of everything...touching people in ways in which we can't perceive. Jesus said, what ever you do for the least of these you do for me. I say hold your idea, your image of Jesus very loose and gentle, because he might shatter your shiny image. You just might meet Jesus on the street, he might even look like Santa.

subverting Christ(mass) consumerism...

This image is from a news story from a couple of years ago of a local rural artist that wanted to say something graphically about the consumerism and over consumption of Christmas. So, he placed this piece of subversive art in his front yard. Over the head of the cross is written something to the effect, " King of the Empire; Sumptum Fac Donec Consumptus Sis." Which means " shop till you drop."

Some neighbors were outraged, local municipal politicians came to visit...and a local Anglican minister came to visit. But, the art stayed up.

My question to you is, is this subversive art ? Does it speak into the prevailing culture of rampant consumerism, and at the same time provide a revelation of an alternative. Or is it just tasteless and gruesome?

I couldn't find Canadian shopping stats for over the November/ December period, but this from USA Today, for expected American spending over those 2 months...

 

"U.S. consumers are expected to spend $437.6 billion in the November and December period, a 1% drop from $442 billion last year." This is one country, I suspect if we were to add all the rich nations spending to the tab...it would be mind boggling.

 

As for Santa, I guess it's not really fair to nail him to the cross, he is only the messenger...so to speak. But, I don't think we can avoid the cross in the face of Christmas, it truly is a revelation of an alternative way...of profound sacrifice. It seems at Christmas we don't sacrifice much.

This image is from a news story from a couple of years ago of a local rural artist that wanted to say something graphically about the consumerism and over consumption of Christmas. So, he placed this piece of subversive art in his front yard. Over the head of the cross is written something to the effect, " King of the Empire; Sumptum Fac Donec Consumptus Sis." Which means " shop till you drop."

Some neighbors were outraged, local municipal politicians came to visit...and a local Anglican minister came to visit. But, the art stayed up.

My question to you is, is this subversive art ? Does it speak into the prevailing culture of rampant consumerism, and at the same time provide a revelation of an alternative. Or is it just tasteless and gruesome?

I couldn't find Canadian shopping stats for over the November/ December period, but this from USA Today, for expected American spending over those 2 months...

 

"U.S. consumers are expected to spend $437.6 billion in the November and December period, a 1% drop from $442 billion last year." This is one country, I suspect if we were to add all the rich nations spending to the tab...it would be mind boggling.

 

As for Santa, I guess it's not really fair to nail him to the cross, he is only the messenger...so to speak. But, I don't think we can avoid the cross in the face of Christmas, it truly is a revelation of an alternative way...of profound sacrifice. It seems at Christmas we don't sacrifice much.

breathless...pregnant mystery

“We’ve lost the ability to hold our breath. Everything is instantly available, regardless of longer-term costs, and the damage we do to ourselves and our planet is immense. So we get into debt, we produce more emissions and become unhappy if we are not immediately gratified.”( Ann Pettifor )

Listening to an Advent sermon talking about pivotal beliefs, how faith hinges on their truths. If not, it is like gravity, Christianity collapses into a pile of irrelevant rubble. The focal point of the talk was the virgin birth, the incarnation.

I believe in the virgin birth, but...

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

   He will be great,
  be called 'Son of the Highest.'
   The Lord God will give him
  the throne of his father David;
   He will rule Jacob's house forever—
  no end, ever, to his kingdom."

 Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."

 The angel answered,

   The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
  the power of the Highest hover over you;
   Therefore, the child you bring to birth
  will be called Holy, Son of God. ( Luke 1:29-35 The Message )

I really believe when we try and explain the Virgin birth, the incarnation of God becoming flesh, we reduce it to nothing more than a lab experiment, test tube fertility, Mary the anesthetized surrogate mother into which God places His egg, and His sperm.

That somehow it had to be this way, or Jesus would not have been sinless, Holy, without blemish. That somehow "sin" is genetic.

Mary asks how, and the angel says, " The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will hover over you." Here we have lost our ability to hold our breath, and loose ourselves in the eternal mystery of those words. To try and explain the incarnation is like trying to explain the opening verses of Genesis. In fact, I am haunted by the similarity, " the power of the Highest will hover over you." In Genesis it was the Spirit hovering over a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, and inky blackness...and God speaks, and creation unfolds.

Here into the life of Mary the Spirit hovers, God speaks, " the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God...His Kingdom shall have no end." The new creation unfolds.

Advent is a season of waiting, of holding our breath in expectation. I can not explain the incarnation. Yes our faith does hinge on this profound mysterious event, but it does not hinge on us having to explain it, summarizing it like biology lab.

Anytime the Holy Spirit comes into the story, there is always mystery...I hold my breath. But in the waiting, and the breathlessness I am lost in a truth that is beyond my wildest imagination.

Advent...let there be light

I wrote the following meditation looking at creation, the beginning of all existence, and Advent the beginnings of a new creation. In both we are awakened to the truth of a Triune God, like an infinitely powerful atomic structure. The Father, the Son and the Spirit hovering in unity, in a bond held together with such magnitude, when released life is created...and created anew.

Christmas is about Jesus, but, it is also about the imagination, the infinitely awesome creative power of a Triune God. Father, Son and Spirit. As was in the beginning, now, and forever and ever.

In the beginning was One,

And in the One was God, the Word and the Spirit,

The three were One.

Through the One, All things were made.

God the creator.

The Spirit hovering.

The Word speaking.

God thought; the Spirit moved; and the Word spoke,

And there was light.

In the new creation was One,

And in the One was God, the Word and the Spirit.

The three were one.

And through the One a new creation was made.

God the creator.

The Spirit hovering.

The Word incarnating.

God thought; the Spirit moved; the Word became Flesh.

The light came into the world.

By Ron Cole

The Mystery of Advent...

 

 

 

    ( image courtesy of Ben Bell )

It, defies logic, but, I believe.

I believe the mystery of Advent is new creation.

I believe in the Spirit of God, as in the beginning,

hovered over a poor marginalized girl on the fringe of society.

I believe in her vulnerability, openness and willingness,

the Spirit impregnated her with the presence of God.

I believe the same Word as in the beginning became flesh.

I believe for a time humanity nurtured God.

I believe as in the beginning the Word spoke creation into existence,

and from the womb of humanity, the Word made flesh speaks a new creation.

I believe now through God the Father, and Son the Word...the Spirit hovers,

speaking, ready to bring the new creation into being.

God with us, God within us,

building a new creation.

The Kingdom.

I believe.

( by Ron Cole ; 30th November 2009 )

thoughts half baked...October.01

Last evening at church you couldn't help notice, poinsettia's, Christmas trees, lights and the three wise men. The other thing you couldn't help noticing...it's October! So you're thinking has " The Place " wandered into a new dimension of time, put the church calendar in the re-cycle bin. Nope, we've just begun a journey. We've opened the door of Luke's gospel, and have barely crossed the threshold into what Luke saw, and heard.

Sherri Priestly picked up the Story from Luke 2:1-20. What I love about scripture, is it's like a gem. Each of us can hold it in our hands, and some how divine light can hit, refract, reflect, revealing different angles of God's incredible story. The reflection that seemed to catch Sherri's eye, was the overwhelming sense of humility. We often come to the story of the foot washing that preceded the last supper in the upper room. The image of God, humbling himself to wash the filth from the feet of humanity. But the image of God, as new born, absolutely dependent for nourishment, nursing from the breast of a marginalized young woman. That redemption, and the story of new creation could be dependent on a very young couple not really sure what the hell is going on, starting a family alone, in the filth of a barn. They had three things...a reality that they were part of God's story, faith, and willingness to enter into the story however bizarre it seemed.

Last night before I drifted off into the land of deep sleep I re-read the verses from Luke. As I held the gem, scripture in my mind, and the light hit it. These thoughts flashed brightly...

God is unorthodox.

That the Good News is an incarnational reality. God, through Mary birthed Jesus into the fringe, into a marginalized space of humanity. Mary and Joseph new what homelessness was.

The Good News was delivered out side the religious establishment of the day, outside the power of earthly empires. The Good News is not ours to keep, it has to be delivered, has to be birthed by us into every moment of our daily living.

These thoughts are half baked, in the oven of my mind. I invite you to add a few seconds in the comments to fully bake it. Lets see if it comes out of the oven fully cooked, with some wisdom we can all feast on.