Category Archives: Hospitality

Jesus Doesn’t Belong in an Egg…that’d be awkward.

Posted on by
3

Did you do it? Did you practice Lent this year? Did you give up something that you value or enjoy for 40 days (remember that Sundays don’t count)? There should be a large cloud of people who will finally eat a piece of meat today, who will order a beer with lunch, or who will sign back into Facebook. The idea, right?, is that for 40 days you’ve been living in the reality of a dead God. God died for three days and during Lent we honor/grieve that reality through our own small attempt at giving up a piece of life. All throughout Lent Sundays are a break from that because Sundays are resurrection days, they’re the days that we celebrate the good news that God is no longer dead and that we have no fear of death.

So today, on Easter Sunday, the final piece to the lenten puzzle, all you fast-ers finally are set free from the grief of a dead God (and the loss of your TV time…or whatever you gave up). Congratulations! You did it! God’s not dead anymore and neither is your apetite!

Let me be honest and say that I didn’t give up a single thing for Lent. It just seemed foolish to give up one more thing when I’m already struggling with so much being taken from me. I know that’s not a very spiritual approach…but it is what it is. (insert lots of jokes here about giving up cancer for lent, giving up chemo for lent, etc. Those jokes are always funny…seriously) But the celebration that happens on Easter Sunday is becoming more core to my heart and my identity than ever before: resurrection.

If we don’t have hope in resurrection then what do we have? Because of Easter I’m freed to anticipate a new body that doesn’t suck, a restored world that is no longer broken, a continued life that isn’t marred or marked by death, an invitation to live this life free from the fear of death, an invitation to bring to this world what I know will be true in the resurrection: peace, harmony, love, community, beauty, etc. If I know its going to be true then than I have no reason not to invite that reality into today’s world–to live into that reality today. For example, if I know that in God’s intended and promised future that ALL peoples will be gathered around one table (a metaphor) then I know that if I live into that today there is no space for prejudice, racism, and exclusivism. What I know to be true later I can try to make true today. It’s an invitation to live differently, to live into the future in the way that Marty McFly did in Back to the Future (sorry, bad illustration).

Anyway, it is important that those who are following Jesus don’t get caught up in trying to make Easter a Christian holiday. It’s not. Easter (as a holiday) is about family coming together, candy, bunnies, and eggs. It takes too much work to try to find a way to spiritualize eggs, bunnies, and candies. Dont’ do it. You look funny when you do. Easter is an awesome time for our families and neighbors to come together and have fun, don’t ruin it by attempting to argue and push Jesus into those little plastic eggs. Jesus doesn’t belong in an egg. Candy does (everyone knows that right?).

Instead we need to embrace and celebrate the end of Lent. Call it Easter Sunday if you want, call it whatever you want, but today (for those who are following the Jesus way) is a day to remember as fully as you can that you’ve been given the greatest dual invitation ever:

  1. Freedom from death through the promise of resurrection
  2. Living into that, as of yet, only partially realized promise today through “resurrection living” (i.e. showing hospitality, impartiality, a commitment to peace, etc.)

So don’t miss the Easter egg hunts: they’re too much fun and of too much value.

But also do not miss the end of Lent: it’s too beautiful to waste.

Why I am a bad neighbor

Posted on by
5

Before I write this I must at the very least include a giant asterisk that clarifies the reality that due to my health I am unable to engage as fully as I would like or as I feel like I should. As I have said before, there are many factors that eat up my time and energy. Chronic back pain steals hours and days of my time. My chemo regimen also eats up about 10-13 days a month of usefulness. Appointments with oncologists, radiologist, brain surgeons, and naturopaths eat up another significant portion of time. Getting regular MRI’s, CT scans, getting my INR checked (my blood thickness related to my previous clotting and embolism issues), etc. also take up a large portion of time. And then there’s the emotional element of not knowing how much time I literally have and therefore the desire to spend more time with my family and less time with…with you…and my neighbors. So this blog was written more out of the dichotomy between desire and reality than anything else, between what I want to do and what I can do, between what I know i should do and what my body allows me to do. What a mess life can be!

I find being a neighbor hard. Seriously difficult.

I love showing hospitality, we have people in our home all the time. Inviting people into our house is something that both brings us joy and, for the most part, comes pretty easily for us (not quite as true for my son as it is for the rest of the family). I also love running into neighborhood people at the cafe, while walking down main street, etc. but when it comes to actually seeing and knowing those neighbors who live on my street…I’m pretty pathetic. I’m sure it depends on where you live and what type of people live on your block, but what I’m finding is that it takes much more intentionality to actually meet and get to know my immediate neighbors. And I just have not done the work! It is intimidating to me and sounds like a lot of work to find excuses to go to a neighbors door (one who I have not met yet). I’m not against doing that, and I have done so on different occasions, but when it comes down to my actual activity I seem to always find something else to occupy my time. The reality is that I’m just not that great of a neighbor.

We talk about neighborhood a lot in our life and work. In Grassroots Conspiracy neighborhood language is pervasive and important. And I do know hundreds of people in my downtown neighborhoods…but on my actual street…I’m pretty pathetic. I am. We had a new set of people move in a few months ago and did we bring ’em cookies? Nope. We have a few elderly women that live on each end of the street and have I ever tried to be available to them? Nope. There are homes on our street where I couldn’t even tell you how many people live there let alone their names…let alone say that I’ve had them over for dinner…let alone say that I’ve brought them some bundt cake.

The reality is that it just takes more work. I’d rather go sit in a cafe and meet people as they enter or exit because it is easier.* It’s not as if I dont know what to do nor is it that I’ve never been willing to do it. No, I’ve written a bit about it in the past and our family has done some intentional things in the past in order to meet those who live on our block (from putting our garden in the front yard to going door to door we’ve done different things at different times), but when it comes down to it I just find it incredibly hard.

Again I want to justify my actions a little bit. We knew more of our neighbors in our last house. We moved here in October and I got sick in May. So there has never been a real solid time where we’ve been free to invest as fully as we’d like. But regardless of my health I still have the same set of desires, the same expectations (though these expectations are not fair to myself or my wife), and the same level of awareness of what I’m not doing (or not able to do). Regardless of my health I am able to recognize that being a good neighbor can be just plain ol’ hard. It requires a different set of rhythms to ones life…rhythms that may be more difficult for you–they’re more difficult for me for certain.

I hope that you’re able to find space in your life to be present and available to those on your block. I think it’d change your life (though I’d go out on a limb and say that it’d probably make it harder in many ways…relationship always does that!). I think it’d be worth it. And I think I’d like to learn from you.

I hope that I’m able to find space in my life to be present and available to those on my block…but until then I’ll probably continue to park myself at the cafe around the corner.

 

* I’m not trying to downplay the value of going to a public space as a means to get to know people. I can’t imagine ever giving this up as a valuable practice. Rather this is a blog where I’m doing some general griping and simultaneously criticizing myself… apparently even some of the good things I may do…not sure this is the best way to go about writing this blog…but it is what it is right?

The FQ Buzz

Posted on by
1

I grew up going to a Labor Day camp called Faith Quest. It’s a camp for high school kids that is pretty intense, intended to grow and challenge you, and is generally done very well. Until last week I had only been to FQ once since ’99 and I came away fascinated by some of the cultural changes that had happened since I was a camper. While some of the things I’ve listed may not be particularly new to FQ…because, honestly I have no idea what’s new and what’s not (some might suggest that nothing’s new under the sun). But here are some of the spectacular things about the teenagers, the culture, and the event called Faith Quest.

  • There was a sense of anticipation from day one. The teens came ready for something to happen, ready to engage in something deep. They came ready. This is a big deal because at many camps you spend the first half trying to get everyone on board with the idea that God might just do something. You then spend the last half of the camp paying attention to what God has/is doing.
  • Creative expression has always been core to what Faith Quest is. But these days creative expression is not just valued as it is, but it is valued as an expression of worship. This year in particular artists explored more abstract artwork that attempted to capture music and worship all in one. It was beautiful.
  • Generosity was an overwhelming part of the event. At the annual auction (which is a new thing since I was a kid) they kids gave upwards of $3000. Umm…I didn’t even have enough money when I was a teenager to buy a bag of chips. At this “auction” where they sell old shoes, decoration off the walls, and pieces of the aforementioned art there is a sense of excitement and giving actually becomes a fun experience. Even on the last day when someone(s) raided one of the cabins and stole a grip of stuff, the overwhelming feeling was that if those individuals needed something (money, clothes, or peach gummy rings) they would have been given to them!
  • Social justice was an ever present reality. During the week, in addition to the $3000 that was raised, nearly 20 children were ‘adopted’ through World Vision by kids and adults alike. Residue of social justice work was everywhere. It was evident in the conversations, the clothing, the scheduling, and the giving. I know this was not a part of FQ life when I was a kid.
  • Worship (through music)  has always been core to the FQ experience. But in the last five years or so the teens have gone nuts (in a good way). It has become a raucous party full to the top of energy, bad dancing, creative expression, and smiles. I think if Jesus were physically present he would have been crowd surfing…no, seriously.
  • Dude, when I was a kid we didn’t down nearly as much coffee as todays teens do! Holy crap they downed the coffee. Next year I say they pursue some Stumptown coffee and get some quality brew up in the house.
  • Hospitality is a very present reality at FQ these days. From the openness everyone has toward strangers to the special senior breakfast that has become a tradition, from the openness toward “dissenting” voices and those who believe differently to the warmth that was shown by the leadership.

I’m sure I could say more. I’m sure many of you could say more. The single greatest part that is consistent in nearly all of the bullet points listed above is that they emerged from the teens themselves. The culture that is emerging at FQ is a culture that is emerging from our next generation of voices. May this never stop.