what i wrote about 'Romance after all' was, i think, an attempt to hint at something (or Something) that has more to do with the way of God than it does the way of a man with a woman (though God knows I believe the latter is a beautiful manifestation and echo of the former). and it was somewhat of a poetic attempt, probably unclear, probably for my own sake more than anything. still, if you haven't read it yet - do so, and if you have, perhaps do so again -- and then read the following selection from 'A Generous Orthodoxy' that, i feel, captures that which i was directing my hints toward:
'I am more and more convinced that Jesus didn't come merely to start another religion to compete in the marketplace of other religions. If anything, I believe he came to end standard competitive religion...by fulfilling it; I believe he came to open up something beyond religion - a new possibility, a realm, a domain, a territory of the spirit that welcomes everyone but requires everyone to think again and become like little children. It is not, like too many religions [even/especially Christianity often times], a place of fear and exclusion but a blace beyond fear and exlusion. It is a place where everyone can find a home in the embrace of God.'
That Something-beyond, that Embrace, that Possibility - that is Romance, as i understand it (and as i don't).
ps - today i finished 'A Generous Orthodoxy' by Brian McLaren (www.anewkindofchristian.com) - it's intense, it's superb, it's comforting, inspiring, challenging, encouraging --- started reading 'Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel' at the recommendation of my friend and a kindred spirit Paul Kind (www.paulkind.blogspot.com) and in preparation for the Trail ahead...
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Monday, June 27, 2005
Romance after all
With the weddings and other circumstances and conversations in my life I've continued to ponder... What is Romance after all?
Or perhaps we could ask, 'Is Romance after all?' And answer quite truthfully, 'Yes it is after all, and before all for that matter, and possibly within all and without.' But then we would be asked, 'Surely you're not talking abou the romance that I hear so much about - the romance of Danielle Steele novels and Hollywood's racey sex scenes?' To which we would reply, 'Surely not. The Romance we speak of is something else all together.' 'And what is that?'
It's the beauty of simplicity; hearts sculpted into one heart. It is a bigger view of life - life more colorful and colors more vivid, crisp. It is music sounding sweeter - or sadder. It is breathing deeper and enjoying the air. It is existing and more than exisiting; it is enjoying and more than enjoying. It is embracing laughter, the kind that brings tears to your eyes, and it is embracing tears, the kind that, ultimately, ends in laughter. It is experiencing companionship and knowing it to be sensational. It is appreciating intimacy and recognizing it to be sacred. It is a taste, a hint, a glimpse, a memory of Something. Something divine and right and intended. For those who believe in God it is all the purity and wonder of God's grace. And for those who don't I'm not sure that it's anything less than that anyway. It is something captured and something caught - elusive but tangible, felt. Romance inspires and grips and stirs - it breaks and reforms the heart
Let Romance reign in the hearts of lovers, in the hearts of children, of women and men both old and young. Let Romance be restored (for it is distorted, unrecognized, unrealized) and redeemed - that those within It, experiencing It may restore, redeem.
May eyes wet easier, hilarity overtake more readily. May Love govern all. And through the thin veil of Romance may the Author - Whoever that may be - be seen, be known.
Or perhaps we could ask, 'Is Romance after all?' And answer quite truthfully, 'Yes it is after all, and before all for that matter, and possibly within all and without.' But then we would be asked, 'Surely you're not talking abou the romance that I hear so much about - the romance of Danielle Steele novels and Hollywood's racey sex scenes?' To which we would reply, 'Surely not. The Romance we speak of is something else all together.' 'And what is that?'
It's the beauty of simplicity; hearts sculpted into one heart. It is a bigger view of life - life more colorful and colors more vivid, crisp. It is music sounding sweeter - or sadder. It is breathing deeper and enjoying the air. It is existing and more than exisiting; it is enjoying and more than enjoying. It is embracing laughter, the kind that brings tears to your eyes, and it is embracing tears, the kind that, ultimately, ends in laughter. It is experiencing companionship and knowing it to be sensational. It is appreciating intimacy and recognizing it to be sacred. It is a taste, a hint, a glimpse, a memory of Something. Something divine and right and intended. For those who believe in God it is all the purity and wonder of God's grace. And for those who don't I'm not sure that it's anything less than that anyway. It is something captured and something caught - elusive but tangible, felt. Romance inspires and grips and stirs - it breaks and reforms the heart
Let Romance reign in the hearts of lovers, in the hearts of children, of women and men both old and young. Let Romance be restored (for it is distorted, unrecognized, unrealized) and redeemed - that those within It, experiencing It may restore, redeem.
May eyes wet easier, hilarity overtake more readily. May Love govern all. And through the thin veil of Romance may the Author - Whoever that may be - be seen, be known.
moosen, marriage, and memories
Having weathered the weather, muscled the mosquitoes, relished in relationships and experienced the enigma of the created wilderness I returned with 13 students and a homesick Mr. Gelatt to the Heritage Christian parking lot one week and 12 hours ago. Algonquin Provincial park was flourishing in its beauty, in spite of the grey skies that loomed steadily over us all week long (we were granted a glimpse of the stars and the setting sun on our final night in the park). Saw about 7 moosen (others saw 8, but I was in the rear canoe so one escaped before I got a visual).
Have successfully gotten 4 couples of friends through their wedding ceremonies and started into the epic adventure of marriage. Blair and Danielle MacDonald - May 14. Joshua and Elizabeth Hazelton - June 4. KennethCole and Julianna Isgar - June 11. Andrew and Shelley 'the dool' Brautigam - June 25. Beautiful brides. Regal grooms. Fabulous celebrations. And some marriages that I truly believe in and am excited about.
And have reflected upon memories (of the past four years specifically) as I said some very significant goodbyes to college friends at the final wedding. Significant goodbyes because they were (are) significant friendships.
Anticipating/expecting/awaiting more memories to reflect upon 4 and 8 and 12 and 50 years from now...
Have successfully gotten 4 couples of friends through their wedding ceremonies and started into the epic adventure of marriage. Blair and Danielle MacDonald - May 14. Joshua and Elizabeth Hazelton - June 4. KennethCole and Julianna Isgar - June 11. Andrew and Shelley 'the dool' Brautigam - June 25. Beautiful brides. Regal grooms. Fabulous celebrations. And some marriages that I truly believe in and am excited about.
And have reflected upon memories (of the past four years specifically) as I said some very significant goodbyes to college friends at the final wedding. Significant goodbyes because they were (are) significant friendships.
Anticipating/expecting/awaiting more memories to reflect upon 4 and 8 and 12 and 50 years from now...
Sunday, June 12, 2005
journey north
Now pretty well prepared for the pilgrimage ahead (spending the next 8 days in the northern Canadian wilderness with 13 senior high school students from Heritage Christian canoeing and camping and battling mosquitoes) - prepared, anyway, in whatever way one may be prepared for such a thing. A few thots thrown together, some clothes and gear piled up ready to be packed, a heart that is somewhat centered and mind that is somewhat settled, a body somewhat rested - and a recollection that before the adventure is over I will have received a whole lot of much needed strength, guidance, and energy from God-above/God-within.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Way of the Wind
'He felt an uncertainty in the air, a feeling of change and of loss and of gain of new and unfamiliar things.'
Well said Steinbeck. I feel the same. That air of uncertainty, that curiosity about things unfamiliar. And really I'm thrilled about it; thrilled and rather frightened. But some of life's best things are like that -- paddling a canoe across the middle of a lake when a storm stirs the waves to a threatening height and rain pelts your face -- standing in front of a person, a group of people, or a crowd with words to speak regarding the good (and unbelievable) news about God's love toward humanity and all of creation -- simply (complexly) falling in love -- then one day making those vows in front of relatives and friends and God (as some of my dearest friends have and will this summer) to the one you're supposed to love and cherish for the rest of your life. Thrilling and frightening.
I heard a story about a man who would feel for the direction of the wind on his cheek and travel in that direction until the wind shifted his course, all the while trusing that God was with him, somehow guiding his steps. I like that story.
I carry a small piece of paper in my wallet with a few words scribbled on it. I can't remember where they came from - but here's what they are:
'My eyes are blinking with secrets of God half blind, but I can see where the wind goes and follow the way of the wind.'
That's not to say that I plan on being one of those rooster shaped metal things on the top of barns. But I do have a pretty steady belief in the Wind of God, the Breath of God, the Spirit of God (greek: pneuma/hebrew: ruah). And in that sense I am very intent upon following the Way of the Wind - I'm not always good at it, but I'm an aspiring wind-traveller.
And so, being thrilled and frightened about the uncertainty within me and the unfamiliar before me I endeavor to wander a bit during this next season of life. (Noting our friend, Tolkien's, reminder that: 'Not all those who wander are lost.')
I read a line once about how theology is crafted out of stories that are lived and shared. So I guess we could say I am proposing to be a wandering-theologian -- for I certainly intend to live stories, listen to stories, and leave stories. I intend to be a sort of backwards pirate, or perhaps a pirate as pirates were meant to be -- wind guided men who journeyed place to place, person to person dispensing treasure and setting captives free.
And here, on the canvas of the internet, I intend to log some of those wanderings, those encounters, and maybe even manage to articulate some of the thoughts I'm thinking along the way.
And I welcome you as a journey-companion.
Well said Steinbeck. I feel the same. That air of uncertainty, that curiosity about things unfamiliar. And really I'm thrilled about it; thrilled and rather frightened. But some of life's best things are like that -- paddling a canoe across the middle of a lake when a storm stirs the waves to a threatening height and rain pelts your face -- standing in front of a person, a group of people, or a crowd with words to speak regarding the good (and unbelievable) news about God's love toward humanity and all of creation -- simply (complexly) falling in love -- then one day making those vows in front of relatives and friends and God (as some of my dearest friends have and will this summer) to the one you're supposed to love and cherish for the rest of your life. Thrilling and frightening.
I heard a story about a man who would feel for the direction of the wind on his cheek and travel in that direction until the wind shifted his course, all the while trusing that God was with him, somehow guiding his steps. I like that story.
I carry a small piece of paper in my wallet with a few words scribbled on it. I can't remember where they came from - but here's what they are:
'My eyes are blinking with secrets of God half blind, but I can see where the wind goes and follow the way of the wind.'
That's not to say that I plan on being one of those rooster shaped metal things on the top of barns. But I do have a pretty steady belief in the Wind of God, the Breath of God, the Spirit of God (greek: pneuma/hebrew: ruah). And in that sense I am very intent upon following the Way of the Wind - I'm not always good at it, but I'm an aspiring wind-traveller.
And so, being thrilled and frightened about the uncertainty within me and the unfamiliar before me I endeavor to wander a bit during this next season of life. (Noting our friend, Tolkien's, reminder that: 'Not all those who wander are lost.')
I read a line once about how theology is crafted out of stories that are lived and shared. So I guess we could say I am proposing to be a wandering-theologian -- for I certainly intend to live stories, listen to stories, and leave stories. I intend to be a sort of backwards pirate, or perhaps a pirate as pirates were meant to be -- wind guided men who journeyed place to place, person to person dispensing treasure and setting captives free.
And here, on the canvas of the internet, I intend to log some of those wanderings, those encounters, and maybe even manage to articulate some of the thoughts I'm thinking along the way.
And I welcome you as a journey-companion.
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