A Tweener in a Hinge Point

I recently finished Reggie McNeal's book A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders. The book was required reading for a class that I'm taking at GCTS, and was one of those surprise gifts that God gives occasionally that leaves you speechless. It was an answer to prayer. A gift of encouragement. I've had plenty of cud to chew thanks to McNeal. Here's some of what I'm pondering:

God's arrangement of the universe and the timing of HIS story is perfect and elegant. Check out this quote from McNeal:

"You have entered human history at a hinge point. Be assured that God is not caught off guard by the cultural upheavals that characterize this period of transition. Neither is he surprised by your intersection with the planet. It is not accidental that you live and lead at time when the decisions you make, especially in regard to culture, will affect generations."

McNeal sees what Walter Ong also recognized as a seismic shift in the way humans perceive reality. McNeal talks about the collapse of the Newtonian world view, Ong secondary orality. The bottom line is that we are in the hinge of a historic shift - in Ong's terms like the shift that occurred when we shifted from an oral to a literary society (the renaissance and reformation happened during this era).

Ong describes how technology has influenced the changes. Think of something as simple as reading - a left to right (or right to left) exercise, verses TVs and computers which refresh top to bottom. Watch a commercial from the 1960s and compare it to one today. In the 60s commercials were longer, slower and typically showed one image. Today, images are flashed in quick succession creating an impression, a feeling. Ong said that we are entering a period of secondary orality. Folks today are more ready to hear and see and feel than read and reason. One might say that for the first time in over 500 years people are ready to HEAR the Gospel again.

McNeal's book obviously reaches folks of several "generations." Builders and many Boomers are not at all comfortable with what is going on in the world today. Gen Xers are for the most part, fully emerged in whatever this new thing is. Interesting for me, is that I'm not a Boomer or a Gen Xer. I'm a Tweener. I'm standing with a foot on each side of the hinge.

So what does the above mean for my life and ministry? I'm not entirely sure. Interestingly I find myself in a mainline denomination (PCUSA) and an aging congregation. I wonder about the future of the denomination and congregation. Without fundamental changes, the congregation won't make it in the future. Maybe having one foot on each side of the door puts me in a position to offer perspective to Builders and Boomers as well as Gen X and Y. May God give me the wisdom to discern my call in this time and place.

On Football and Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Or There's no Fool Like an Old Fool

2 Things:

On Football - I saw my brother in law last night for the first time since Labor Day. My aunt and uncle invited a bunch of us out for a picnic, and after we ate we decided to play a little football. I have to say that though tennis is probably my "life sport", I love football better. It's really not possible to be a girl and have football be a serious part of your life as a player for very long - the onset of puberty put an end to my regular football playing... Anyway my son, my cousin and his kids, and all three of my brother-in-laws and I played some football (two hands anywhere). Three of us ended up limping off of the field of battle. The brother-in-law mentioned above wound up with a stress fracture in his leg. My mom's assessment: "You all are too old to be out there running around like that!" The problem is, that inside I'm still about 10 years old. I still want to play.

On Elizabeth Barrett Browning - I recently saw Chris Rice in concert. He asked the audience who was an EBB fan. I think alot of those kids had maybe never even read a single poem, though probably all would be familiar with the line, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Mores the pity. What's not to love about EBB (her life and her poetry)?! The really interesting thing is that "How do I love thee..." line is far from the best line in that particular poem:

Sonnets from the Portuguese #43:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints!---I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!---and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death

At the mid point of my forties, I still aspire to a love like that! And to a continuation of my football career. Oh well, you know what they say, "There's no fool like an old fool."

Rie y Llora

I was listening to Celia Cruz sing "Rie y Llora" yesterday and pondering. People respond to life altering (or ending) events like terminal cancer in different ways. This song talks about the value of the moment - "the perfect present". Whatever the moment calls for, whether laughter or tears can be embraced without fear. Celia Cruz, facing the end of her life, decided to live right up until the very end. Anyone familiar with her music would expect nothing less than the indomitable spirit that she displayed.

I hope that I live my life with as much consistency and gusto as she did. My style is certainly very different, and I would imagine my priorities a world away from hers. But I'd like to think that I'm learning to embrace all that life holds - tears as well as laughter and recognizing in them the "perfect present."

Too Much of Anything...

Too much of anything is - well too much. For instance, did you know that summers on Uranus last for 21 years? Yep. I love Summer, but I'd have to say that after 21 years I'd be ready for Fall.

It seems like we've been wired to enjoy things in their season. When you're hungry, you want something to eat. But even if you're ravenous, once you've had enough, if you continue to eat, you're miserable in a totally different way. Pregnancy is something that can be enjoyed for a season, but once it's time for the baby to be born all you can think of is getting that bundle of joy OUT. You're ready to trade a crying baby for an enormous stomach.

We've definitely been made to live life in a rhythm of ups and downs - ebbs and flows - all leading us toward maturity and wholeness.

May God help us to ebrace all of our seasons (in their season) and recognize His heart shaping presence in each one.

Sometimes You Need to Slow Down

Lately I've been pondering the need to slow down and listen. Listen to God, listen to my own heart, listen to what others are saying - and not saying.

When our lives become filled with too much activity and too many words and too much noise we're in danger of losing our center. So - slow down. Embrace silence. Find some space. Be quiet and listen. Don't be afraid of what you'll hear. The Lover of the Universe has things to say to you. You can't hear, if you're not listening.