TGIF -Totally Grateful I'm Forgiven (and Free)

This morning I'm marveling at the immeasurable variety of variables that come into play to support the relaxed moment I'm enjoying, right now at 7:30 AM, sitting at the counter-top and savoring a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

First there's the simple miracle of getting out of bed, somewhat functional. I was reminded of this when I woke up - ten minutes before my alarm - courtesy of the most excruciating leg cramp I've had in literally years. I was flopping about on top of the bed like a fish with a hook in its mouth! There are so many complex and intricate functional parts to the human system, constantly working to maintain balance, both chemical and physical.

Sometimes I wonder how it's possible that I can even walk and chew gum at the same time!

I'm using the word "miracle" here in the sense that I explained early last week when I coined the word "metanatural." It may be vaguely weird to be fascinated with oneself, but this morning I hobbled out of bed, stretched the offending muscles groups, followed my usual routines, and observed myself walking Scout while simultaneously reading the Upper Room morning devotions via my Blackberry (all while negotiating parked cars, school buses and various moving objects)... and I marvelled at this awesome event that is repeated day-by-day... and I thanked God for the privilege of being alive.

And do you realize - of course you do! - how many attentive, creative, innovative engineers it takes to keep Tampa Electric on-line and sending out the power to keep this coffee-pot playing its critical role? Or the dedication of hundreds of thousands of military personnel who guard my freedom so that I can live in peace, without fear? Or the elected leaders whose commitment to the principles of democracy and fidelity to our constitution works together - and in opposition - to maintain a balance of services and responsibilities?

Even the coffee I brewed this morning was grown, harvested, processed, distributed, exported, distributed again, stocked, labeled, priced and then sold at a store with it's own multi-level system of overlapping people and roles and requirements.

This cup of coffee is a miracle - and in so many ways! The freedom I enjoy is a miracle! The way our society holds together is a miracle! My life is a miracle!

You can see your life as a miracle too!

Love and blessings - DEREK

Are you Sitting Comfortably?

Today, you get a story. Back when I was a very small child I enjoyed a 15-minute (I think it was 15 minutes) radio show that came on every day in the afternoon (I think it was the afternoon). The program featured the resonant, soothing voice of a man (I think it was a man) reading a story, just for children. The show was called, "Listen With Mother", it was on BBC Radio, and the opening line was always the same:

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then, now we'll begin."

There is a great deal of comfort in that memory, and in the image it conjures. Sitting in my mother's lap; curled up on a big chair; safe, secure, warm, loved.

But then again it's quite possible that half the time I was coloring at the table while she did the dishes and I listened... or maybe we only caught it a couple of times a week... or possibly some other variation. But in my memory that's the image.

When Rebekah and I became parents there was no "Listen with mother." I was a fully involved dad and we both loved to read to the children from books; Rebekah told better stories than any radio announcer and she knew all the family tales; no-one was home in the early afternoon... It was all different.

Imagine if there had been a movement to "Go back to the good-old-days of Listen With Mother." What if I had believed the only way to bond with my children was to replicate the experience I had when I was a child? Or if I was outraged that shows like "Reading Rainbow" or "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" were a sign that family life was compromised and falling in to disrepair?

Ridiculous, huh? The way Rebekah and I told stories is different than my experience growing up - yet it still honored the story and taught the power of narrative to our children. When Dexter the hand-puppet helped Rebekah pass on family tales the media changed form, but the substance maintained its integrity... And I can't wait to see how our daughter Naomi does storytelling with her children, one day. You can bet it's going to be off-the-charts and creative.

This is the time of the year when too many of us mistake nostalgia for authenticity. Sure, powerful memories and positive experiences teach us a lot, and familiar paths can take us to familiar places and those places are often good. But the danger is to honor the tradition and lose contact with the story.

I believe Thanksgiving and Christmas too easily become monuments to experiences we can and will never have again. BUT... the truth that makes us grateful is still alive, and the fact of God's awesome gift at Christmas is new every morning. If we connect with the amazing story of Grace and Peace and Hope and Joy and Faithfulness - then every year has the potential to give us new memories that are immediate and real.

Let's not allow our focus to shift from the reason behind all this celebration to the form of the celebration. That's just the box it came in. The important thing is the story.

Grateful that I'm involved in a reality that outshines (and outlasts) nostalgia - DEREK

If there is any encouragement in Christ...

I can't believe it's already almost 10:30 (EST). I got up early this morning (that's Scout, with her leash, telling me to "GET ON WITH IT!") because I knew today was going to demand a little extra and the first couple of hours have simply involved catch up...

...With one notable exception. Rebekah and I had a delightful twenty minute conversation with our son, Andrew, courtesy of SKYPE. SKYPE, for those who don't know, is a computer program that allows us to talk via live video with anyone, anywhere in the world, who has the same program running at their end.

I still can't wrap my mind around the technology; but I can wrap my heart around the impact it has. There's Andrew, perched in his 36th floor apartment in a downtown high-rise in the middle of Bahrain's biggest city in the middle of the dessert - carrying his laptop computer around his home and showing us all the rooms and the spectacular views. And here we are, 8,000 miles away, siting in our kitchen, sipping coffee, sharing a moment with our son.

At the same time, I'm building a relationship with 20 participants in my first ever on-line workshop; people from literally all over the USA. This is a powerful technology, still developing faster than most of us can keep up, opening a world of connections.

Early this morning I opened an email I'd like to share, written by the commanding officer of a Naval base in the Pacific Northwest:

• I first would like to thank you for putting together three great books. Our Bible study group used your book “In my heart I carry a star” last year at advent and we have all tried to move toward the goal having that Christmas feeling all year long. We found the emphasis on connecting the Christmas celebration to that of the triumph of God at Easter. This week we are finishing up your most recent book on the unmaking of a part time Christian. We have all found your unique writing style and the stories of family and friends as a particularly rewarding in its natural connection to our own walk in faith and love of family and friends.... ...Thank you for your work. There are at least twenty people on the pilgrims path that have moved closer to Christ because of your books.God Bless....
  

The idea that we can encourage one another and strengthen faith and support people thousands of miles away in their journey as followers of Jesus - that is exciting and motivational and it makes me want to work all the harder to honor God in this ministry - wherever and however it takes me.

And so, Paul wrote to his friends in the Philippian Church, "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others...."

Amen - DEREK

Discussion Board overwhelm - it's all good

This morning I got up fairly early and took a peek at the "Discussion Board" on the web-site where I'm teaching my on-line class. There were over 100 "posts" to process in response to the "Icebreaker" questions I'd assigned for DAY-ONE

That's a lot of stuff to read. Granted, many were one or two line comments, related to more substantial posts. But 15 of 20 people (the class is capped at 20) have already jumped right in- as of 9:00 AM EST - and have made some significant contributions to what looks to be an illuminating ongoing conversation.

Immediately, the atmosphere of the workshop has shifted from "academic" to "transformational". Now I'm not saying that academic classes can't be transformational - or that connecting with one-another on a personal level in any way undermines the academic (the fact that I wrote the class text is enough to undermine the academic!). But something very powerful is always set in motion when people begin to share some of their own story - and that's what I'm excited about.

So far, the folk who have checked in are "remote-learners" from Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, California, Illinois, Mississippi, New York and Pennsylvania. They are Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Church of God and Mennonite.

Each one of my new friends have made a commitment to engage a meaningful Christmas as authentic followers of Jesus. They want to negotiate December without being bulldozed by the cultural juggernaut of rampant consumption that has little room for the message of a Savior whose values counter so much of what drives this culture.

Here's the big question we're addressing this week: "Is it possible to participate in all the fun and the parties and the gifting and the glitz... and... honor Christ at the same time?"

I'm already sensing an ample well of deep wisdom and radical personal stories from my new friends. I'll try to clue the rest of you in on some of the insight when it comes my way.

Grace and Peace - DEREK

"Initial Trajectory" key to a great day... week

God's love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky. On us who live in the dark shadow of death this light will shine to guide us into a life of peace. - Luke 1:78-79 (CEV)(Images in today's blog found on-line - not mine)

There's always the temptation, especially when I wake up on a Monday morning with an impossibly busy week ahead, to throw myself into work headlong, generate a list, and begin checking off items with my "production" mentality cranked up to high gear.

I've been fighting the urge since 6:00 this morning! It's been a bit of a struggle but so far, I'm doing Okay.

Instead, I've chosen to focus on what's important. The morning devotion; the relaxed walk; the coffee and newspaper with Rebekah; an unhurried breakfast together. And so now - and when I finish writing this post I'll be pretty much good-to-go - I can approach what needs to be accomplished with my body, mind and spirit all tuned in and ready to contribute to a great day.

It's that idea of "Initial Trajectory" again. This is one of my favorite phrases, and the concept is useful every day and with every single project. We used the phrase in advertising the BIG NEW ITEM that has my attention this morning: My first-ever on-line class begins today (or possibly already has begun, because I made some of today's assignments and announcements available to participants yesterday afternoon).

• Here's the first part of the blurb in the "catalog": "Rocket scientists know that "initial trajectory" is critical to the success of any launch; just a few degrees off and we can miss the destination by hundreds of miles. Too many of us miss the meaning of Christmas by a similar margin. But there's hope – actually, there's hope, peace, love and joy..."

The class has filled all the way up (we'll be offering it again in early December), so I'm looking forward to getting to know 20 participants from all over the USA.

Here's what I'm looking to accomplish over the 14 days we'll spend (virtually) "together" - and it's the same intention I pray we all bring to this new day and this new week:

• I pray that there's not any wasted time - because we already run into too much of that...
• I pray that the things we discuss will open hearts to the possibility of Grace - because, as Eagles front man Don Henley wrote in "The Heart of the Matter" - we live in "such a graceless age"...
  
• I pray that the scriptures we read will bring each one of us closer to the heart of God - because the heart of God is our true home...
• I pray that the manner in which we approach each new day will involve an openness to the Spirit - because we tend (routinely) to let ourselves be guided by the priorities of this culture - values and ideals that are contrary to God's heart...
• I pray that each one of us identify ourselves as a pilgrim, committed to making progress in our spiritual journey - because so much of the time we go nowhere, or slip backwards, and there is so much that God wants us to journey into...

This is my Initial Trajectory for today, for this week, for my new class - and I pray it's a the kind of intention that will be adopted by each one who reads these words. How we head out of the gate - off the launch pad - makes all the difference in terms of the destination. And I don't want to miss any of the wonder God has in mind for me.

Love and blessings - DEREK

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
- Luke 1:76-79 (NIV)

Did you know I was a "foodie"?

(All pictures taken in our kitchen...) - I've turned into one of those "frequent grocery shoppers". I'd rather stop by the store three to four times a week than do the mammoth once a month "back your truck up Publix" excursion some people favor.

I prefer what I call "target" or "mission-oriented" shopping; I enjoy the process of gathering food and then immediately taking it into the kitchen and preparing it for supper. I'll even go to more than one store to get exactly what I want. Rebekah says I shop like a European.

That may well be. I'd much rather say "I feel like pork chops tonight" and then head to the store than find myself backed into a corner with a bag of something that's been frozen for three weeks and we feel obligated to eat because it seemed like a good idea at the time. I just happen to keep most of my food at Sweet Bay, and Publix, and Albertson's until it's time to cook.

So yesterday afternoon I thought, "Hmm, what we could really use is fresh - really fresh - veggies and then I'll build the meal from there...". The baby carrots in the produce department looked excellent, the beans were crisp and inviting, a bag of pearl onions caught my eye, and there was a special on mushrooms.

Then it was on to the meat counter. I was intending to locate a nice juicy steak, but a then a couple of big, fat lamb-chops caught my eye. The butcher cut me some fresh ones and I headed back to produce for a bag of sweet potatoes and picked up some crescent rolls from the bakery before heading home to cook.

I've always enjoyed cooking, and now we have the new kitchen, the hour of preparation for dinner has become one of the more enjoyable of the day. When I plan things right I don't have to rush, and if Rebekah gets home early she can sit in the easy chair and we can talk while I slice, dice, saute, sip and simmer.

So yesterday I put a little olive oil (Tuscan) in the cast iron skillet, cut and crushed some garlic, and sliced a few small onions to release their aroma into the oil as it heated up. Then I added the lamb chops, some sage, and a handful of mushrooms, sauteing the whole mix before putting the skillet down in the convection oven to finish the process - in the company of the sweet potatoes - while I lightly cooked the baby carrots and the green beans.

Such fun around the stove top goes well with a glass of Pino, especially if you're going to splash a little in with the lamb chops before they go in the oven.

Simple things: cooking good, fresh, food at home; enjoying relaxed conversation with Rebekah; feeling the fall air stream in through the wide-open windows; breaking bread together; fresh-brewed iced-tea with a hint of mint; thankful for what we do have, not fretting about what we don't.

Life doesn't have to be complicated to be a real rush. In fact, I'd be willing to say that it's more often delightful and restorative when much of the unnecessary complexity is put to rest. Not much analysis today, though, I'm simply going to enjoy one more amazingly redemptive fall day.

Blessings and love - DEREK

What "Emergent" really means

Yes, I'll take your questions now! Trivia time... are you ready? Okay, here goes:

Question: - Is there one thing people have asked you to blog about that stands out?
Answer: - Why yes, "Curious Reader", as a matter of fact there is. Hands down, and from well before my blogging days, more people have asked me to write about being a "Minister's Husband". Now it's my #1 blog request - as much as just about every other idea combined.

There's been enough written on the "Minister's Wife" to fill its own warehouse. However, in the world of gender-discrimination, the role of minister's husband has yet to be even acknowledged in most circles. Fact is I'd love to teach a seminar on the topic at the leading seminaries of every Christian denomination. (If you're reading this and have any influence at all I'd love to hear from you!!!)

Okay, for those readers who aren't up to speed on my family, here are the basics.

1. I'm married to a Presbyterian Minister.
2. Her name is Rebekah Maul (formerly Alexander).
   
3. She earned her MDiv from Columbia Seminary in 1982.
4. She was told not to get married because "A married woman can't lead a church".
5. She was told that 90% of marriages fail when a woman enters ministry.
   
6. When we were expecting our first child Rebekah was told it would embarrass the school if she interviewed with churches, and not to seek a call until after she had finished raising her children.
7. We learned, instead, that God is in no way limited by the suppressed imaginations of human organizations!
8. God has richly blessed her pastoral ministry now for over 27 years.
9. We're having a ball!
   

The above list serves to - believe me - merely scratch the surface. Suffice it to say that Rebekah and I have witnessed the truth of the following declaration in many, many ways: "Statistics only measure what already has happened, they have no power to determine what will happen."

Cool beans:
Here's what's really interesting. If people didn't know what to do with a female pastor, then they had even less of a clue regarding how to handle a preacher's husband! Almost 30 years ago there were not a lot of women called as pastors. Many women who did earn a seminary degree took positions outside of traditional parish ministry; some changed careers before long; very few ended up as the senior minister of a "good-sized" congregation; even less are still married....

Put all those factors in an equation (D- dropout-RD X 90%/SP to the power of reality = X)... "X" being the number of men who share my unique position. It all adds up to very few men occupying the so-called "traditional" minister's-spouse role.

GOOD NEWS: (picture: Rebekah with the other half of our ministerial team: Tim Black)
The really good news here is that neither Rebekah nor I found ourselves fed into the status-quo processing system and spat out at the other end as stereotypical cookie-cutter models of a minister's family.

We weren't created by the sausage machine and - rather than cry "Foul!" or "Discrimination!" - we have thankfully been free, instead, to simply follow Jesus.

That's the bottom line, here. It's all I'd really say if I got to teach the seminary seminar for preacher's-husbands coming up (In fact, it's a message for all those who enter ministry with their spouse - there really is no difference).

• Thank God for the opportunity to show up at a church unhampered by narrowly defined stereotypes
• Go into ministry as humble disciples rather than the poster-family for church leadership models stuck in the 1950's
• Do one thing, and do it well - follow Jesus!

Today's excerpt from "The Unmaking of a Part-time Christian" is from the chapter "Subversive for Jesus".

Enjoy - Love and blessings - DEREK

Listen to the Spirit: follow Jesus (page 86)
If there’s one model both Rebekah and I have constantly fought hard to disprove, it’s the idea that faith should in any way be formulaic, stereotypical, one-size-fits-all, or easy to define. God, it turns out, is much harder to pin down than that.

So, rather than feeling like disadvantaged victims of sexism or discrimination, it worked to our spiritual advantage to show up at Rebekah’s first ministry job and find we both had to start from scratch. Because there were no preconceptions, no time-honored parts to play and no pre-determined expectations other than the call to follow Jesus.

That’s what the idea of “emergent” really means. It means that we simply follow Jesus. Our worship, service, illumination, spiritual growth, prayer life, our journey into Christ – all these things – emerge in response to the primary and critical priority of regarding everything else "as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).