So many people have feelings of inadequacy or guilt around their own prayer lives. For a majority of these folks, the inadequacy is not from themselves but rather from the people who taught them about prayer.
If you believe that prayer is either formal words addressed to God or silence listening for God, your understanding of prayer is so small that it is difficult to keep up a full prayer life. But prayer, more fully understood, is simply time spent with God. That time might be spent gardening or running or talking with a friend or making dinner. Prayer includes inviting God into whatever is going on in your life, and noticing God in the midst of your day.
These days of early spring, God is so clearly present in the quality of light in the mornings. God is present in the buds and flowers beginning to burst forth. God is in the noises of spring--from robins to peepers to turkeys and bats. And it is my prayer, and God's joy, when I notice these things.
This morning creating was singing forth God's beauty and so I took the long way to work on my bike. I got in an hour of prayer before I even set foot in the chapel.
When we are aware, we are at prayer. Thanks be to God.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
A Nazarene, A Baptist, A Methodist, and An Episcopalian Walk Into A Bar
OK, so we didn't walk into a bar. We actually were the panelists for a forum on alcohol usage put on by Mount Vernon Nazarene University last night. Each of the four of us church leaders were chosen to give four different points of view on alcohol usage by faithful Christians. We panelist respected and enjoyed one another, and the students seemed engaged.
It was nice to have four different panelists, but for the most part we fell into two camps. All four of us agreed that although there are many biblical injunctions against drunkenness, there really is no biblical injunction against drinking alcohol. The Nazarene and Baptist ministers went on to explain their denomination's social choice to abstain from alcohol. UMC pastor Rod Buchanan and I talked about how alcohol could be a part of a faithful Christian's life.
Going into the chapel that evening, I was nervous about being put on the spot, about being judged, or about sticking my foot in my mouth. But none of that happened. The only even slight disagreement we panelists had was at the very end of our time together. MVNU students and staff sign a policy that they will not be in the presence of alcohol. Their chaplain explained the policy by saying he hoped his sons would never be the designated driver at a kegger. I responded from my own experience of being the designated driver in high school and much of college, and how I always make sure there is a designated driver when drinking is involved. I said that for me, being a designated driver was a form of ministry and that I hope my boys will be designated drivers regularly. The Nazarene minister respected my view, and said that if a friend called his son in need of a safe ride home, he hoped his son would drive the friend. But he restated his hope that his children will not expose themselves to any situations where they would need to be designated drivers.
I think the students enjoyed hearing a diversity of views from faithful Christians on the subject of alcohol usage. And I enjoyed being part of the panel. I would love to be part of a regular series that might include environmental concerns, premarital sex, homosexuality, and a variety of other topics on which faithful Christians differ in our understanding and belief.
I was charmed to see that one of the students tweeted a quote from me as I tried to explain what alcohol usage is like in our home, "Alcohol is just like peanut butter. We have it in the house, I try not to eat too much of it, but it is very good."
It was nice to have four different panelists, but for the most part we fell into two camps. All four of us agreed that although there are many biblical injunctions against drunkenness, there really is no biblical injunction against drinking alcohol. The Nazarene and Baptist ministers went on to explain their denomination's social choice to abstain from alcohol. UMC pastor Rod Buchanan and I talked about how alcohol could be a part of a faithful Christian's life.
Going into the chapel that evening, I was nervous about being put on the spot, about being judged, or about sticking my foot in my mouth. But none of that happened. The only even slight disagreement we panelists had was at the very end of our time together. MVNU students and staff sign a policy that they will not be in the presence of alcohol. Their chaplain explained the policy by saying he hoped his sons would never be the designated driver at a kegger. I responded from my own experience of being the designated driver in high school and much of college, and how I always make sure there is a designated driver when drinking is involved. I said that for me, being a designated driver was a form of ministry and that I hope my boys will be designated drivers regularly. The Nazarene minister respected my view, and said that if a friend called his son in need of a safe ride home, he hoped his son would drive the friend. But he restated his hope that his children will not expose themselves to any situations where they would need to be designated drivers.
I think the students enjoyed hearing a diversity of views from faithful Christians on the subject of alcohol usage. And I enjoyed being part of the panel. I would love to be part of a regular series that might include environmental concerns, premarital sex, homosexuality, and a variety of other topics on which faithful Christians differ in our understanding and belief.
I was charmed to see that one of the students tweeted a quote from me as I tried to explain what alcohol usage is like in our home, "Alcohol is just like peanut butter. We have it in the house, I try not to eat too much of it, but it is very good."
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