cross-gender friendships

hey all, if you haven't read Kathy Escobar's interview with her friend Dan regarding cross gender friendships, then get ye to her blog!

Immigration

I want to share an fantastic site on immigration and getting to know more about the undocumented people's plight. It's called undocumented.tv

They are looking to share a message about love, understanding, and grace. They are also sharing a video and looking for groups to host discussions. Thought some of you might be interested.

interview with emily

(photo by hannah)

Hey all!
I did another interview of an EmDes'er on my blog!
It's Emily!
Check it out here.

interview with hannah

Hey everyone! I am currently writing a series on my blog in which I interview my friends. My last post was an interview with Hannah! Here's the link!

thoughts on a not so personal god

I don't know how many of you read Magpie Girl's blog, but I have followed her for a few years now. She used to be a pastor in a typical evangelical church, but she has slowly moved into a more all-embracing multi-faith practice. She recently blogged about the idea of a personal god when your spirituality expands. From her blog:

This shift from a personalized, highly-involved God to something wider and less humanoid can be unsettling for a lot of people. I often get questions around the idea of: “Well, if God is not personally in charge or me or personally involved with my life, what does that mean!??!” It’s a big shift, and not everyone makes it, or even needs to make it.

certainty and doubt

Yesterday, we talked a bit about those who hold certain beliefs true and those who are holding doubts. Is there room for both people in our group? Are there people who could come to our gathering and feel unwelcome because of issues in their life?

It was an interesting discussion, and I think it really challenged many of us. I certainly was engaged, and I learned so much from people who have actually faced certain situations in their lives. It's one thing to pose a hypothetical situation, but to hear answers from real situations is humbling.

I thank everyone who shared stories.

It's true that context and relationship can change us. It's one thing to have an opinion or belief, but it up-ends us when someone we love comes to us in their pain.

Thoughts?

Progression of Community

Hey everybody,

I was reflecting on Sunday's conversation regarding the first installment of Rob Bell's Jesus Is Difficult series on Gossip, and I had some thoughts/questions I'd like to throw out to the group...


We've touched on these ideas before, but I want open up the discussion again on our [Emerging Desert's] progression of community. One thing that struck me about the conversation on Sunday (or the portion I was able to observe) was that a number of people identified the assumption of closeness in Rob's main points. That is to say, his teaching about how to deal with conflict and thus gossip hinged on an assumption of relational maturity or closeness. I think we have/are/will continue to witness a beautiful evolution of community within EmDes, but I still sense that there is plenty of ground to cover in deepening our relationships. Or to frame it another way, Rob's talk about conflict resolution, etc. made me wonder if we, as a community, are deep enough into each other's lives to even merit that depth of conflict resolution if one should arise (which really hasn't yet to my knowledge). Does that even make sense?

To offer an answer to my own silly question: I think we're getting there. Like I said, a number of us have committed to doing this journey together, and much progress has been made. But we still have a way to go, I think. So I guess the wrap-up questions are these:

- Is our ongoing progression of community something that simply takes time (so we should just keep doing what we're doing), OR is there some increased level of intentionality that would be good for us to collectively put into action?

- If we lean towards "doing more," what would that look like for us as a group? Of course there's a individual aspect to all of this, but should we add an element to our weekly gatherings in which we some how make ourselves more known to each other (whatever that might mean), or would that feel too forced?

Any and all thoughts are greatly welcome!

joy's blog

Hey friends and lurkers,

Joy has been blogging through a bit of her spiritual journey, and I think she is doing an amazing job. Check out her latest post regarding deconstruction and reconstruction of "praxis"

(Two thumbs WAY up)

because gmail is down for craig, I post in his stead

it's tuesday, which of course means new music day! {=o) okay, maybe i'm the only one who thinks of tuesdays as a weekly music holiday. anyway, there is an album out today that i thought some of you might find interesting. david bazan - curse your branches. if you haven't heard of david bazan or his better-known previous project, pedro the lion, it's really a pretty interesting catalog of work. he has always been very open and transparent about his spiritual life and struggles (with some sidebars into his problems with politics/the religious right). starting from his early work of basically hymns and praise songs mixed with critiques of the church to this latest record where he tends to call out god on more than one occasion even to the point of questioning his existence. here's an interesting interview with the guy, if you'd like to find out a little more about where he's coming from.
i've got the record if anyone is interested in borrowing it. i've been listening to it for about a month,* some days i have to play it a few times in a row and sometimes i don't want to hear it.

here are a couple of great songs from the record.

When We Fell

with the threat of hell hanging over my head like a halo
i was made to believe in a couple of beautiful truths
that eventually had the effect of completely unraveling
the powerful curse put on me by you
when you set the table
and when you chose the scale
did you write a riddle
that you knew they would fail
did you make them tremble
so they would tell the tale
did you push us when when we fell
if my mother cries when i tell her what i have discovered
then i hope she remembers she taught me to follow my heart
and if you bully her like you’ve done me with fear of damnation
then i hope she can see you for what you are
what am i afraid of
whom did i betray
in what medieval kingdom does justice work this way
if you knew what would happen and made us just the same
then you , my lord, can take the blame

In Stitches

my body bangs and twitches
some brown liquor whets my tongue
my fingers find the stitches
firmly back and forth they run
i need no other memory
of the bits of me i left
when all this lethal drinking
is to hopefully forget
about you
i might as well admit it
like i even have a choice
the crew have killed the captain
but they still can hear his voice
a shadow on the water
a whisper in the wind
on long walks with my daughter
who is lately full of questions
about you
when job asked you the question
you responded “who are you
to challenge your creator?”
well if that one part is true
it makes you sound defensive
like you had not thought it through
enough to have an answer
like you might have bit off
more than you could chew

* - yes, i am a sinner. i steal music from the internet when it is not yet available in stores. but i fully intend to buy the lp once i can figure out how to get it to my house without melting.

recent post by mcclaren

Did anyone else read this post by McClaren? In it he pairs a heartbreaking (short) clip from an interview with theologian John Goldingay and a poignant quote from Richard Rohr regarding people learning to trust themselves.
Please take just a few moments to check it out.

Resources on Muslims and the Qur'an

Hey all! A few of us have mentioned that while we're reading our current book A Deadly Misunderstanding, we'd like to get a little more background information on Islam. Several resources have been mentioned in our discussions - Salafia's and Schroeder's, I'm referring to you! - so please comment away on this post with alternative resources people can check out - books, movies, podcasts - all are welcome!

advent

"Those who think they have arrived, have lost their way. Those who think they have reached their goal, have missed it. Those who think they are saints, are demons. An important part of the spiritual life is to keep longing, waiting, hoping, expecting. In the long run, some voluntary penance becomes necessary to help us remember that we are not yet fulfilled. A good criticism, a frustrating day, an empty stomach, or tired eyes might help to reawaken our expectation and deepen our prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, come."

--Henri Nouwen, The Genesee Diary

Oh faith, where art thou?

Well, it's time to make my blog debut. All you guys have been pretty raw and I guess I can't help but follow suit. To be honest, the last few months have been hard for me spiritually. I haven't been as interested in reading as I usually am, or talking about things, or even thinking about things. I've distracted myself with 1000 pages of Sherlock Holmes short stories (don't make fun, Sherlock is cool, but I think Sarah is still mortified that I just shared that).

I've been satisfied to engage on a purely surface level much of the time, and for that I apologize. I haven't been "showing up", and am having trouble getting past feeling apathetic about so many things. I've been getting by on things I read or thought about months or even years ago.

Sarah and I have been talking about what Carrie shared a few weeks ago, when she said that when church culture was stripped away the state of her faith scared her. Carrie's words stuck with me, and I talked with Sarah, and I re-read that Detoxing from Church article (at Sarah's prodding), and together we made a few realizations about ourselves and our faith that strikes to the heart of what following Jesus has been about for me, and kind of calls me out and leaves me staring uncomfortably at the state of my own faith, asking myself, "Is that really mine?".

My connection to God has always been an intellectual one. The primary expressions of my faith have been reading books and discussing theology with others. I've always found it easier to read the book about prayer, and recite 7 reasons about why having a healthy prayer life is essential, than to actually pray. Feeding myself in that manner has worked for a long time. But being the whiz-bang intellectual guy just isn't working anymore. I'm exactly where Carrie is, only for slightly different reasons. I'm seeing what my faith looks like when stripped of the intellectual element, that it's really made of paper-mache, and that's frightening.

As I see it now, I've had a glorious history of sitting comfortably behind the facade that I've so painstakingly erected: little known Bible factoids, quotations "just right" for the moment, or thoughts that make me look deep and vulnerable and in touch with my inner self but mask how terrified I am of going there for real. It was a good run while it lasted, but it's not working anymore. The good news is that with this realization comes hope and chance for true transformation. It's good to be able to share this.

dec 08 kathy's visit

Hey friends,
I really enjoyed Kathy's visit on Sunday--thanks for coming to Arizona, Kathy!

I thought maybe we could share our thoughts and reflections about Sundays conversation. What stood out to me was the openness in our time together. I love hearing what is going on inside everyone's head--I love that we aren't trying to impress each other with knowledge or answers.

It was great seeing the newlyweds--congrats!, but sorry to miss some regulars.

Please share your thoughts/reflections in the comments.

welcome to the desert

Hey friends,
I want to draw your attention to another post by Julie Clawson. She blogs about the role of the Holy Spirit as one who draws us into the desert...tempts us, teaches us about doubt...I thought we could all find the irony in the name of our group.

The desert is a hard place - barren, empty. A place not of joy and assurance, but of desolation and doubt. It is where one goes to wrestle with God - really struggle with the hard questions that honestly have no answers.

first sunday in advent

Hey friends and fellow travelers, I just wanted to thank everyone for their candor tonight. I felt really connected to each and every story. Thank you for sharing your hopes and your struggles.

Here is a link to a post by Julie Clawson who lives in Austin, Texas. She is an insightful blogger, and I really appreciated her advent post. Excerpt:

...those magi following that star had a hard time of it. The journey was difficult. Unsure of exactly where they were going or what they would find when they arrived, they just knew they had to journey on. A distant star, days of toil, endless doubt and questions, ridicule and remorse - these defined their hope. But they didn’t settle for safety or that which confirmed what they already knew. They sought a miracle and that hope sustained their journey.

Last Gathering

Hey friends,
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the Schroeders this week. (Jim, that Scottish Red was killer!)
For those that missed our discussion, we skipped the discussion about Exiles chapter seven, and we instead focused on crisis of faith. In our group, if you haven't had an experience of severe doubt, then you are either in one, or you'll probably have one. Scott gave some excellent perspective, and he pointed out that our relationships have good times and bad--so why should our relationship with G-d be any different? Why isn't it "normal" to go through the desert when so many "faithful" heroes in the bible had less than perfect records?
I just want to thank everyone for being willing to share their experiences, ask the hard questions, and be honest. I hope that our gatherings are always filled with open people reaching out to each other.
Please share your thoughts here on this post in the comments, and also with each other this week. I really liked what chapter six had to say about connecting through out the week--that's really important.
Peace, Jamie