Speaking against NAIS

This is from the National Animal Identification System "Listening Tour" that swung through Austin back in May 2009. After I spoke I had to leave and get back to my job, but of the nearly 2 dozen people that spoke before me, not one spoke out in favor of NAIS.

Also worth noting, I recently saw a flurry of articles about Wendell Berry speaking at one of these things in Kentucky. He vowed to be thrown in jail for employing civil disobedience if NAIS were implemented: http://www.foodrenegade.com/wendell-berry-picks-jail-over-nais/

As you will probably be able to tell from the video, I got pretty nervous while speaking in front of so many people. I almost lost my train of thought completely when the buzzer went off near the end of my allotted time. That... and I kind of misspoke in my final statement when I said, "my church" instead of "with the Sustainable Food Center", but oh well. Actually, Mosaic has done a little work in that direction and wants to do more someday. Maybe I was just practicing speaking things into existence. Ha!

If you happen to follow the link back to the YouTube postings for more clips, I recommend listening to Judith McGeary, Jon Dromgoole, Kim Alexander, and Randy Givens for some of the highlights.

Passing hours in a library

"Hey Elam, did you hear the news?"

"No Seth, what is it?"

"That crazy man with the big red beard who's always snooping around our garden disturbing stuff is planning to start seminary this fall!"

"That's great news, Elam! I bet he'll be so busy working in some dimly lit library he won't have time to screw with our crops anymore."

"You've got a point there... but we could end up with an even bigger problem on our hands..."

"Oh, what's that?"

"All that time in those dark libraries and he might start thinking he's one of us?"

A New Type of Human Being and Who We Really Are

At the risk of being perceived as incredibly lazy for posting someone else's thoughts, I offer this link to an exceptional article forwarded to me by my friend Alex Dupree:

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/11/art/a-new-type-of-human-being-and-who-we-really-are

For those of you interested in sociological/psychological/philosophical conundrums, this may be of interest to you.

Enjoy!

Personality and Connection

With the recent popularity of books such as Don Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz”, David Kinnaman’s “unChristian”, and Dan Kimball’s “They Like Jesus But Not the Church”, many Christian leaders are beginning to take notice of a broad cultural shift happening within the American Church. This trend is reflected in the growing body of research being gathered by the Christian research firm, The Barna Group. Across the general public and even amongst practicing believers people are becoming more vocal about their “skepticism and frustrations with Christianity”. More often, people are feeling free to express the difficulties they’ve encountered in their spiritual lives and their lack of feeling connected with God. To pastors and spiritual leaders who’ve made their life’s work helping others pursue a relationship with the Divine, this frank outpouring of widespread spiritual struggle might seem like a daunting new challenge. In times such as these, much can be gained by seeking the guidance and wise counsel of those who’ve wrestled with this disparaging disconnect before us.

One such person who made it his personal crusade to help others achieve this intimacy was religious scholar and pastoral counselor, Morton T. Kelsy. His quest drove him to explore forgotten forms of prayer and meditation from times passed. Kelsey then paired those findings with the latest insights from psychology. The resulting body of work captured in Kelsy’s book, “The Other Side of Silence” has proven to be a helpful tool in the hands of those in ministry. The truths uncovered, some of which have been met with resistance, reveal that there are no one-size-fits-all answers with regard to how individuals relate with God. For this reason, it has become vital that clergy and those dedicated to serving the body of Christ by helping others navigate life’s spiritual path personally explore prayer in its many varied expressions and couple that knowledge with the recently gained understanding of how people with different personality types process information and relate to the world around them.

For some ministers, talk of an expanding definition of prayer or the incorporation of modern psychological data might seem foreign and uncomfortable, but once the historical precedent for these Christian practices is reclaimed and the applicability of knowing peoples’ personality types is understood, their validity and relevance should be self-evident.

Most commonly today, evangelical Christians are taught to seek God through prayer (specifically the extemporaneous, conversational style of prayer practiced in most evangelical churches), scripture reading, and communal worship. Other lesser known practices include the incorporation of mantra-like prayers, Lectio Divina, and the use of icons or concentration aids such as beaded prayer necklaces. Although unknown to most Christian mystics today, many historical followers of Christ followed the meditative examples and exercises of St. Ignatius, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, or Brother Lawrence. Even today, monks of the Benedictine Order routinely gather to pray the Psalms together in daily life. Still others have preferred to follow St. Francis of Assisi’s more outwardly expressive example practicing missional service to the poor as their connecting point.

Unfortunately, as Kelsey covers in his book, religious leaders have often made the mistake of discontinuing practices not meaningful to them. “This has presented a real problem in many denominations, and also in religious Orders in which the actual devotional practice of one leader could be made the rule for all.” (Kelsey, p.22) If these elders had only understood the significance of differences between peoples’ personalities, perhaps many of these alternative forms of worship wouldn’t have been sidelined.

Kelsy explains that within the study of psychology, primarily drawing upon the work of Dr. C. G. Jung, eight distinct major personality characteristics (for example Introvert and Extrovert) have been identified. These characteristics can be combined in differing combinations to form 16 unique personality types. Each type possesses its own particular tendencies and traits, which can affect how individuals of that typological make-up are predisposed to experience the world around them.

When applied to how people relate spiritually, Kelsey noted that extroverted people were more prone to experience connectedness to God through shared experiences or activities with others. Unsurprisingly, the converse was true of introverts. This also can explain why some people get more from independent study or prayer while others find communal praise or missional service their faith’s pinnacle expression. While this is merely a peek at the insight that could be gleaned by a deeper study of psychology and faith, the major lesson to note lies in understanding that people experience and relate to God differently.

As ministers and leaders seeking to help foster spiritual growth within others, acquiring a basic familiarity with the spectrum of Christian disciplines and expressions can be useful, especially when combined with an understanding of differing psychological needs. By adequately exposing others to the numerous avenues for expression available, the hope is that people will gravitate towards that which most deeply resonates with them, rather than ministers having to learn and know each parishioners’ individual peculiarities.


Bibliography

The Barna Research Group. “A New Generation Expresses its Skepticism and Frustration with Christianity.” Barna Group. 24 September 2007

Kelsey, Morton T. “The Other Side of Silence: A Guide to Christian Meditation.” New York, New York: Paulist Press, 1976.

Kimball, Dan. “They Like Jesus But Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations.” Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2007

Kinnaman, David. “unChristian: What a New Geveration Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters.” Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2007

Miller, Donald. “Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.” Nashville, Tennesee: Thomas Nelson, 2003

While on lunch break today I was reading from a book on Christian meditation and I came across something that got me thinking about an experience I had a little over a year. A psychic one.

That's right, I had an undeniably psychic experience once! What's more, that vision saved me from physical harm. Crazy huh? I'll get back to that in a minute, but first I want to tell you what reminded of this incident.

So in this book I'm reading it talks about how many people, especially Westerners, have been conditioned to think only within the conscious plane of existence. For most, the subconscious corners of the mind remain unexplored. One page in the book showed a diagram with a line bisecting the subconscious world from the conscious. One plane contained things like memories, the supernatural, the psyche, etc. and on the other side were things like time, space, and that which we are normally cognizant.

The book referenced previous times in history when the division between these two realms was less stark. As a explanation for the current oblivion to these realms, it cites current society's emphasis on the "hard sciences" and that which is measurable. It teaches that meditation is a technique used to soften the barrier between these worlds and that it can be used to nurture our souls and grow closer to Christ. How? I'm not sure yet because I haven't gotten that far. I'll have to let you know.

So, what does all this have to do with my psychic experience? Well, I'm not sure exactly... but here's my story:

It was about a week and a half before I planned to leave for India to go volunteer and I still didn't have quite enough money for the trip. I was trusting God to provide the money if I was to go, but I never could have forseen things panning out the way they did.

So there I was driving through downtown Austin on my way home from a Bible study when suddenly a vision of a car slamming into the side of mine flashed through my mind. I remember it being REALLY vivid and that it immediately sent a shock wave of fear through my body. Because of the image's intensity, I remember immediately slowing down and driving as cautiously as possible. Sure enough, not thirty seconds later a car veered at me from the left and hit my car on the driver's side! Although I was unable to avoid the collision, I'm convinced it would have been much worse had I not been going as slow as I was (about 20mph).

Well, there it is. I don't really know what to make of it personally. I don't claim to know why it happened or to understand any of its spiritual implications, but I do know that I was "warned" and that by listening to the warning I was kept safe. Any thoughts?

Oh yeah, the icing on the cake was that the money I got from the insurance company helped me pay for my trip to India!

Shouldn't this go without saying?

I find it very sad that the news media is making such a big deal about Obama's directive to stop the use of torture. Not that I disagree with Obama's decision, I don't. I just find it depressing that making such a decision is even necessary. Have we slipped so far as to not be able to identify evil in its purest forms?

For last couple of weeks I've read the newspaper with even greater trepidation than usual. I have been immensely disturbed by the horrible stories of bloodshed and violence currently ravaging Gaza. This has been accompanied by my recent learning of the Orthodox Christian prayer, "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

My friend that shared this with me said its continual utterance throughout one's day reminds its whisperer of humankind's fallen condition and its collective need for grace. Adopting this perspective of humility can help one to look upon their fellow brothers and sisters with greater compassion. I have found it helpful to recall this perspective to mind each time I feel my anguish for the tragedy in Gaza ready to boil over.

About a month ago I resolved to change my daily routine and finally MAKE time more prayer, meditation, and scripture reading. I am happy to report that, so far, things have gone extremely well. For the last few weeks, I have awakened each morning (albeit earlier than ever before) with a true excitement to spend time with the Lord. In conjunction with this newfound discipline, I have been reading a book called "Practicing His Presence" which contains the writings of Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach. In it, each of the men candidly explain how they developed their practices of walking continually in God's presence and speak of it's life changing effects. This book comes highly recommended by Greg Boyd, one of my favorite pastors, and I am starting to learn how great an impact this practice may have on my life. I will certainly be sharing this gem with others.