Three New Things Last Week

After assessing my recent book-buying binge and becoming filled with self-loathing (and stacks of books), I decided to find my old library card and begin to get books out of the library more often, rather than buying them.

I confess that I haven't been to the library in a long time; it was one of my summer haunts, as a child. I'd go back every two weeks for a new armload, and take them home to read in between trips to the lake and (when forced to stay home) afternoons running through the sprinkler.

But I didn't just find my library card. I also discovered how to ask for a book on the Internet. I requested three books that have been in the back of my mind for awhile. Just yesterday, I was notified that the first one, The Faith Club, had come in.

Next I googled something my sister told me about a long time ago, something call Pandora. I have, in just the last week, created about six radio stations I can listen to while I waste time at the computer.

Finally, in the wee hours of Thursday evening (or was it Friday morning), I created a Facebook account. My cousin (the one who visited with his seven children) emailed me and sent me some family pictures. He said, "Are you on Facebook?" "No," I answered. He emailed right back, "It's easy," and provided me with the link. The rest -- is history.

I have 22 friends so far. I was pretty proud of this.

Then I discovered that my stepson has 346.

Little by little, I'm being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

But what is all this about Twitter?

Reader Poll

Just yesterday I got this award from Ruth over at Ruth's Visions and Revisions. I will have to say that I am flattered and flustered. I'm not so sure that I'm as courageous as the award seems to imply. I do think that I try a little too hard sometimes to be nice, and senstive to everyone's feelings. However, I do think that sometimes pastors are called to "Kick XXX." I'm just not sure if we can SAY it.

Ruth seems to feel similarly. In telling me about the award, Ruth seemed to wonder whether, as a clergyperson, I would be able to post this on my blog.

So, dear readers, what do you think? Is this award appropriate for a pastor?

If there are any congregation members out there, I would be particularly interested in your point of view.

But of course, everyone is welcome.

In the meantime, I'm pondering my next post. Hmmmm.

The Music Gene, part II

This is my nephew playing the piano, his own composition. It is called "Dead War -- Acoustic".




What do you think?

Does It Hurt Your Head?

A friend of mine from church just got new glasses. She left hers in a restaurant a couple of states away. She was philosophical about it; she said that it was about time for a new prescription anyway.

I really like them; she said she does too, although it's taking a little getting used to. She says she had gotten used to things being a little fuzzy, and now her vision is so sharp it hurts her head, a little.

In thinking about my recent post about reading the Bible, I suspect that this sharper vision is one of the benefits and also one of the pitfalls. It's true, when we start hearing God's word, we start getting a much clearer picture of God's love for us: a picture of a Father running down the road with his arms outstretched, tears running down his cheeks; a picture of a woman, pouring a year's worth of perfume on a dying man; a picture of a mother hen protecting her young; a picture of a host throwing a lavish dinner party for people who can't ever pay him back; a picture of a woman combing her whole back yard at midnight looking for a penny.

But it's not all sweetness and light. It's not just God that shows up more clearly -- it's the human race. Our family tree is filled with cheats, rogues, tax collectors, liars, and ne'er-do-wells. Also, just your average, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, well-meaning but imperfect people. Sometimes, when we're looking at ourselves, it much easier to stay with the old prescription, the one where we come off looking fuzzier, younger, a little more flattering.

I'm not talking self-abasement here; just an honest self-assessment. I remember reading and clipping a newspaper column by Ellen Goodman long ago. It was a Valentine's Day column, and the gist of it was that we should all look in the mirror every morning and say to ourselves, "You're no bargain." I think that we get the same sort of feeling when we start delving into the stories of the Scriptures.

It's enough to hurt our heads. Or make us grateful.

Or both.

The Accidental Pilgrim

.... that's what my sermon title should have been this morning. And I admit, in some ways it turned out to be a shameless excuse to talk about our trip to Paris. I "used" the Isaiah text to talk about the invitations that God extends to us, to come and eat, to see the world in a new way (a place of abundance) to live in the world in a new way (sharing with others and connected to others).

I told a story about seeing the same DK Paris guidebook everywhere we went, only in different languages. And about one time in particular that I saw that guidebook at the table next to ours at a sidewalk cafe. I also recognized the letters on the front cover, and turned to my husband and whispered, "They're from Greece." (I knew that that New Testament Greek study would have more uses!) I didn't think any more about it until we got up to leave. The couple moved their guidebook out of the way so that my husband could get out, and he turned and said to them "Thank you" -- in Greek. (He told me he learned it from a grocery bag.)

That last line got a big laugh because there is a local grocery store here that has the words "Thank you" printed on all of their grocery bags, in many different languages. The closest store to us is managed by our of our congregation's leaders. I was kind of hoping that he would be at church today, but he was working.

Immediately after the service, a church member whispered in my ear, "Guess where I'm going this week!" PARIS. She asked if she could borrow our guidebook. I said, "Oui."

Then I stopped at the grocery store, where I needed to buy lunch ingredients, and I was kind of hoping to run into the manager, for obvious reasons. Often on Sundays, there are many food samples in the store, and today, among other things, there was CAKE. I told the young woman who offered me a small piece of cake that I just couldn't, as I had cheesecake at church in the morning.

"What church do you go to?" she asked.

It's true, we had cheesecake on sticks this morning. A young couple is using our church kitchen to start up a cheesecake business, and made these as a sort of a gift and a promotion for us this morning. A little more upscale than your usual donut holes.

Meanwhile, I didn't find the store manager, but relayed my grocery bag story to the people who were checking and bagging my groceries. (Yes, this store still bags groceries for you.) The bagger helped me carry the groceries to my car, pointed to my collar and asked, "Are you a pastor?" After I answered in the affirmative, she asked what kind of church I was at, and then, more boldly -- just how does a person go about finding a church? I said it would be good to try a few different churches (not neglecting my own, of course), and that she could ask any questions she wanted after she had visited.

I hope you had a blessed, restful, delicious Sunday.

One thing I'd like to work on...

I'd like to encourage people to read their Bibles more often. I'd like to promote Bible reading, so that people become really immersed in the Word, and in the stories of the Bible, and in the poetry of the Bible. But when I try to get something like that in a sermon, telling people to read their Bibles comes off like telling them to go to the Dentist twice a year, or eat their vegetables, instead of like telling them to go out and have a steak dinner and a glass of wine and a big fat piece of cheesecake.

So, I back off from telling people to read their Bibles more often in sermons. It just doesn't seem to work. But I still would like to promote a way, or ways of talking about Bible reading, promoting Bible reading, loving the Word, following the Word. I'm going to be working on that, I think, for awhile.

One thing is to acknowledge that reading the Bible has its pitfalls. It's not a piece of cake. It's a big book, with small print and a lot of possible entry points, some of them fraught with difficulty. There are some parts that are hard to understand, and a few parts that nobody understands, and any numbers of parts that are crystal clear, but might possibly make us angry. One can understand why certain segments of the church thought it better to let sleeping dogs lie.

But still, it's our book, it's our story, and not just the theologian's and the pastor's. The Word let loose in our lives can cause all kinds of trouble, but I suspect that it's the kind of trouble we might need. Take, for example, just one small but well known example: "Love your enemies." Try living with those three words for a week, or a month or a year.

Programs that help you read through the Bible in a year have their place, I suppose, but I wonder if they don't give the false impression that what's most important about the Bible is that we know what's in it. We read the Bible as if we were reading the dictionary, looking for facts and definitions, rather than looking for clues to the mystery of the One who loves us.

I know there are some books that deal with this; I have Eugene Peterson's Eat This Book, and I'm reading it now. I also know that I don't know much about a really important tradition called Lectio Divina. I'm considering doing a retreat this fall.

In the meantime, I'm pondering.... what can make the Bible a book not just lovely to look at and soft to the touch, but one that we actually open, despite the risks?

Friday Five: Lock me in, Lock me out

Songbird over at Revgalblogpals writes this timely Friday Five:

For some reason, Blogger declared this blog possible SPAM and locked us down yesterday. This morning, we're free to post again, but there was a fair amount of excitement last night among our contributors, who found a dire notice on their Blogger dashboards threatening that this blog might be deleted in 20 days!We requested a blog review, and I posted a request at the Blogger Help group, where I found we were not alone. Many other perfectly nourishing and cromulent blogs got the same notice last night.This turned out to be a very small barricade in our blogging community life, but it seemed appropriate to explore locks and blocks and other barriers this week. Also, I liked the picture of the security team above! Could they be Blogger's Spam Prevention Robots, working overtime?In honor of their efforts, I bring you the "Lock Me Out, Lock Me In" Friday Five.

1) How do you amuse yourself when road construction blocks your travel?
I don't know that I amuse myself. Beat my hands on the steering wheel, wail loudly, pray silently, especially when the road construction is a surprise. We have a lot of it in my area this year, too; can't get on the highway at many entrance ramps due to a major construction project. I have never gotten into listening to books on CD. Sadly.

2) Have you ever locked yourself out of your house? (And do you keep an extra key somewhere, just in case?)
Yes. And yes.
There are several stories about this, starting from childhood, when my sister and I would "break in" when I forgot to carry our house ke to school.

3) Have you ever cleared a hurdle? (And if you haven't flown over a material hurdle, feel free to take this one metaphorically.)
No material hurdles, but seminary and becoming a pastor was a hurdle cleared for me.

4) What's your approach to a mental block?
I don't have a standard approach, but one thing I do is walk away for awhile. Go away for awhile, take a walk, read a few paragraphs of a book.

5) Suggest a caption for the picture above; there will be a prize for the funniest answer!
"You will be terrified! by...The invasion of the creatures from the particle-board planet!" (coming to a theatre near you)

P.S. Speaking of detours, and being locked out, today is the first anniversary of the collapse of the I35W bridge over the Mississippi River. The bells will toll at shortly after 6:00 this evening.