Giving Up? Unique Ideas and Approach for Lent

February 17, 2010 in consumption, creation, discipline, food, green, jesus, Theology, worship with 16 Comments

Ash Wednesday. It marks the first day of the lenten season as a means to help the post-modern, post-enlightenment, post-colonial human engage the mourning, suffering, celebration, and hope embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.

“What are you taking on this lenten season?” – a question I began to ask after reading a Twitter post by my friend Matt Frye. He posted, “What 40 day change are you making in your life for this lent season? I’m taking on 40 days of journaling. Something that I need desperately.”

What are you taking on?

Lent has historically and culturally been defined by a person electing to sacrifice or give up some item or substance or external material or non-material product or influence. I value that aspect of Lent but understand it’s limitedness. The act of giving up something may be considered disciplined and necessary to produce a sense of shared suffering and solidarity; however, the completeness of sacrifice is understanding that which fills the places that are empty due to sacrifice.

Matt stated that he is taking on the act of journaling for 40 days. For some, the time spent writing and reflecting could be something that fills a perceived void created by giving up television watching or a Facebook addiction. I have been considering giving up the consumption of meat for the next 40 days. By default, my body would need to be filled by nutritious foods high in protein such as lentils. Rather than sacrificing the consumption of meat I may need to consider taking on a vegetarian diet and committing to growing life giving plants – as an act of discipline and as an act of worship – taking care of this body as a unique approach to environmental sustainability.

What are you taking on? Share your ideas in the comment section below.

Peace be with you.

Super Letters.

February 12, 2010 in community, family, giving, global, love with 12 Comments

I’ve been publishing a series of posts entitled “Teaching Little Kyla…” documenting and sharing our  journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune. Posts that would normally be included as part of the “Teaching Little Kyla…” series will now be uniquely titled. At times we are teaching little Kyla and at other times little Kyla is teaching us. More falls in the latter.

A couple of weeks ago Kyla had just finished receiving her evening bath. She had been playing in the water with a foam alphabet system, sorting the letters more by color than by consonants and vowels ordered to spell certain words. She calls the foam characters her “super letters.”

Sarah was nearly finished drying and dressing our little one when for no apparent reason Kyla began to pray. The only plausible explanation was genuine gratitude.

“Dear Gawd, phank you for my baphtub… and… for my super letters.” Sarah responded, “Kyla, those are great things to be thankful for. There are some kids around the world that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.”

The world. Stopped. Instantly.

There are some kids around the world that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.

Kyla immediately had a frown across her face complete with angry and confused wrinkled eyebrows. As I watched from across the room I could see the deep trouble and grief that Kyla felt. She turned and looked up to Sarah and said, “No. They do. They have baphtubs and super letters.”

Sarah replied, “No. There are a lot of children – like the children we’ve been praying for in Haiti – that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.”

With anguish… and confusion… and agony… and distress on her face, Kyla looked down. And in the next moment, she looked up… and narrated the gospel.

“I will give them my baphtub and super letters.”

And the tears that welled up in my eyes began to run down my face.

Without agenda. Can’t we all love like a two year old?

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^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.

Discipline and Coffee.

February 3, 2010 in coffee, discipline, Theology with 6 Comments

Which is the greater discipline:

Limiting oneself to one cup of coffee per day?

OR

Committing to drinking no coffee at all?

Click comments below to… well… comment on commitment, limitations, discipline, and coffee.

Teaching Little Kyla… The Sign of the Cross (and Willimon).

January 30, 2010 in Church, Ecclesia, jesus, kyla, mvnu, prayer, religion, Theology with 1 Comment

“Teaching Little Kyla…”
A series on Travis and Sarah’s journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune.

When Kyla begins to pray she now touches her forehead, then her chest, then crosses her shoulders while saying, “In the name of the Fahver, in the name of the Son, and the Holwy Spiwint.” She proceeds to give thanks for the most simple things in life. Her genuine gratitude really shows and I’ll tell you more about that in my next post.

After seeing and hearing Kyla do the sign of the cross, someone asked her, “Are you catholic?” To which I replied, “Of course she’s catholic.” The word catholic means “one, universal.” The people of God are one church. There may be some organizational nomenclature that distinguishes one gathering of the church from another gathering of the church but ultimately there is only one church, the people of God.

Scott Peterson, University Chaplain at MVNU, asked last night if I have read the book “Who Will be Saved?” by William H. Willimon. I have yet to read it but am putting that as a priority on my reading list. Scott disclosed that the essential theme of the text recognizes the tension between “the narrow way” of Jesus and a universalist perspective that suggests all paths of religion or the unlimited grace of God allow all people access to God (I am not attempting fully or accurately describe universalism; that is a conversation for another day). If I recall the conversation with Scott correctly, he said that Willimon (in the previously mentioned text or another) suggests that those who will be saved must be a part of the church.

What does it mean to be a part of the church?

What does it mean to be identified by the sign of the cross?

Please comment.

^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.

Teaching Little Kyla… Praying for Haiti.

January 19, 2010 in family, global, prayer with 4 Comments

“Teaching Little Kyla…”
A series on Travis and Sarah’s journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune.

A couple of nights ago I was praying with Kyla and we prayed for all the children in Haiti – that God would protect them and be present with them. The next day while we were sitting at the table sharing a meal Kyla closed her eyes and said, “Dear God, thank you for the Haitis.”

“The Haitis” – or, the Haitians. Are we truly and genuinely thankful for all people in the world the make up all of humanity?

I am challenged by my 2-year old daughter every day.

Humility.

^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.

Can we help Haiti… and Pat Robertson?

January 15, 2010 in adoption, love, missional, Theology, worship with 1 Comment

It is humorous and interesting how a blog post on Pat Robertson’s response to the earthquake in Haiti spikes my blog traffic. What is the cause? Is it that people agree or disagree with Pat Robertson? What has this man done to generate the type of attention that he has? Does anyone actually care about Robertson? Do you actually care more about the people in the country of Haiti? And if you do, what are you doing about it?

A comment on my previous post addressing Robertson’s hateful comments asked, “Can God forgive us for sitting on our a**es passing judgement on people who are actually doing something besides sitting around talking about it.”

Currently, I am, indeed, sitting. I usually do sit when I type. As I’ve been typing, I have been clicking on a button that says “send.” The button processes a message that I am sending to various orphanages and organizations in Haiti in hopes to adopt a child or even two from Haiti who have possibly been orphaned as a result of the earthquake. An update on our ADOPTION page will be posted later today. If you would like to donate to our adoption fund, please click the button in the far left column.

Another “send” button upon which I clicked processed a donation to UNICEF (who is currently providing aid in Haiti) and earned me frequent flyer points in order that I may fly to Haiti to assist with rebuilding efforts. Organizations with whom I have communicated (some through my employer/university/MVNU) are suggesting that additional people are not currently needed. So I don’t think I need forgiveness for sitting on my backside and “doing nothing.” Must I justify my giving and my doing? In the midst of what I hope to be loving acts, I am not stating ridiculous and asinine judgments on people based on their geographic location and a natural disaster. Bad things happen. Evil is present. It is our human dilemma.

What else can we do about the dilemma?

Thank you for your comments.

Can we forgive Pat Robertson for hating Haiti?

January 13, 2010 in compassion, death, deconstruction, global, love, Theology with 10 Comments

Unfortunatly, I don’t think Pat Robertson will ask for forgiveness or even admit any wrong-doing/speaking. He has a history of saying unloving and unkind things that highly misrepresent Christianity. I hope that anyone exposed to Robertson does not impose his words onto others who are genuinely trying to be formed into the image of God as defined in the person of Jesus.

Robertson commented that the people of Haiti “swore a pact with the devil” and that “since then they have been cursed.” He suggests that “we pray for a great turning to God” for the people of Haiti. I do hope that people of Haiti will turn to God as I’m sure many have been even prior to the earthquake of 2010. In his comment, Robertson is suggesting that the destruction in Haiti is due to a curse from some time ago. So, Pat, I have a few questions for you because that’s what we here at subversiveREFORMATION.com do – we ask questions:

Did God cause this earthquake in Haiti because of some type of pact that Haiti supposedly made with the devil?
Were the 45,000 Americans in Haiti at the time somehow in on this pact?
Is the earthquake God’s form of punishment for Haitian people?
If so, why are we all not being punished?
Have you ever been punished?
Have you ever been extended grace or have you ever offered grace to someone?
Are you more concerned about placing blame or about a compassionate response?

And a question for myself and my friends:

Can we forgive Pat Robertson?

2009. Today. 2010.

December 31, 2009 in culture, history, Theology, thought with 5 Comments

Be present in today.

Our calendars tell us that one year has passed and another one is upon us. Do you become preoccupied with what you’ve done or didn’t do last year? Do you look forward to what might be ahead or dread the things that you know are coming?

Be present in today.

God is with us. Let us be with him.

I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t reflect or have vision. I am just wondering how much our lives become consumed with that which is not now. How much do you think about the past? How much do you think about the future? How much do you think about now – your current existence? Live in it.

Be present in today.

Last Chance to Give this Season.

December 18, 2009 in adoption, advent, consumption, culture, freedom with 1 Comment

Hurry! Make all your purchases today! … uh.. err… yesterday. Yesterday was FREE shipping day! I missed it. Dang! If only I would have gotten free shipping on all the things I need to buy then I could have bought THAT… MUCH… MORE!

Isn’t it sad that we think like this? I am not suggesting that we frivolously go spending our money without a single care about the responsible use of the green and plastic in our pockets and handbags. If a purchase is necessary for an item that is needed (redundancy intended for emphasis) then I always look for the best price or attempt to have the best timing for a purchase to get “a better deal.” If I buy something just because it’s a good deal am I being responsible at all? And how often does that happen this time of year for so many of us?

That’s the whole point of Black Friday.

“If we can just sucker these suckers into the store because of a few good deals on something they think they need, then we can throw a few more average ‘deals’ out there where they have to see it and they won’t be able to resist.”

And how much do we add stress and dysfunction to our lives thinking, “This is my last chance to get something for this person!” or “I have to hurry and think of something to buy… and I just don’t know what to get!”

What if we spent as much time thinking of creative ways to serve others? To invest our time in relationship? To create? To love? Love in a manner that does not involve our addictions to consumption.

One idea: Give life. Give the financial ability for loving families to adopt children. If interested, please Click the ADOPTION DONATION link HERE or the button in the far right hand column. Your entire gift will be designated to our adoption fund.

Also, if making purchases now or anytime, you can purchase through Amazon.com. By linking to Amazon from subversiveREFORMATION.com, we will earn up to 15% of all purchases (current rate is 6% increased from 4% with future increase based on volume). Click the STORE tab and continue or click links to the right.

What’s Your New Tradition?

December 16, 2009 in advent, consumption, giving, global, love, worship with 0 Comments

It comes down to this: What story are you going to embrace? The story of the popular culture? Or THE story? What’s your new tradition for Christmas? How will you celebrate the coming of God to earth in the person of Jesus? He offered salvation and freedom. How about you? Will you share the same message or remain a slave to deadening consumption and commercialism?

http://www.youtube.com/v/LkTyPzRzuwc&hl=en_US&fs=1&

What story are you going to embrace? The story of the popular culture? Or THE story? What’s your new tradition?

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