EC gets personal

A friend of mine recently explained that he left his church, where he had been a member for at least 25 years, because of his frustration and despair over the direction of the church. He blamed it squarely on "the emerging church" movement. He views EC as a movement away from biblical truth and discipleship. Instead, he sees EC as promoting relativism, acceptance of sinful behavior, and avoidance of controversy (re: abortion, homosexuality, etc.). He latched onto John MacArthur's well known diatribe against EC as proof of it's evils.
His anger is clear. I'm not sure that his analysis is as clear. He tends to go ad hominem, blaming the problem on bad motives rather than on well meaning people who are simply wrong about important issues.
To his credit, he has not abandoned Jesus. He has begun attending another church that is known in the area for it's growing vital ministry. I have seen too many who throw out the baby with the bathwater. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish the body of Christ for Christ himself.
My look at EC has been pretty surface. I suppose I should actually read some of the primary sources. I just find it fascinating that this is becoming a large enough issue in Christendom that I know people who are making significant life changing decisions. Get ready. I think it'll get worse before it gets better.

No 98 Pound Weaklings

About 8 years ago, I ran a marathon. It was a great experience and I intend to duplicate it sometime in the next several years. Nevertheless, I was surprised at how out of shape I actually was when I finished. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that I was actually kind of fat. Now, to put that into perspective, I realize that my fat may well be someone else’s sleek and svelte. But I had a slight spare tire around my waste (not so much a Michelin…more of a mountain bike tire), very little upper body muscle tone, and kind of lame pasty doughy appearance. I decided that running marathons, although diverting in its own way, left something to be desired in terms of overall fitness.
Two friends introduced me to the world of bodybuilding through a program called Body For Life. You may have seen the book. It’s the one with a million photos of people before and after the completed the program. The photos are amazing, and that is what finally sold the book for me. I figured if I achieved half of what these folks achieved I would be very happy with the results. In short, BFL is set up so that in 12 weeks you can dramatically reduce your percentage of body fat, add lots of muscle and generally reshape your body. It’s a great program, and it worked. I’ll spare you my before and after photos, but they were quite dramatic. I cut my body fat percentage from 15% to 9%. While I dropped several pounds of fat, I also gained several pounds of muscle so my net weight ended up almost the same, but distributed VERY differently. I found it to be a great introduction to strength training.
Soon after completing the program, however, I started to want something more. My primary objective for lifting is not so much to gain big muscles to impress the girls. Actually, I simply want to be functionally stronger so that I could count on my body to do more things I want it to do – like lift up my girls. BFL’s focus is very much on bodybuilding. I definitely saw improvements in strength, but there was just too much emphasis on how you LOOK – especially if that meant big pecs, big biceps and flexing them all on the beach. A true strongman does not look like the guys on the covers of today’s muscle magazines. If you look at pictures of the old time strongmen, they really look totally different. They are definitely hard looking, but usually much more compact, not all bulgy. And the things they could DO!!! So I began to seek out non-traditional methods of strength training.
Today, I use a combination of bodyweight training (caslisthenics) and weight lifting using a rather unusual device of torture known commonly as a kettlebell. A kettlebell is a ball of iron with an integral loop handle. It comes is various sizes, the typical starting weight for men is 16kg (about 35 lbs), with most men who work at it regularly will move up to the standard 24kg (about 53 lbs). What makes the kb particularly devious is that the use of the eccentrically placed handle allows for ballistic movements and off-center positioning of the weight when picked up.
In addition to using a kettlebell I am fond of unusual forms of pushups including the hindu pushup, the handstand pushup, the one-handed pushup and all manner of arrangements and contortions. When combined with squats (aka deep knee bends) I find that one can achieve quite dramatic results without the use of weights or complex equipment.
I don’ need no stinking gym.
Last year I was able to perform 100 consecutive Hindu Pushups. This year I intend to perform 500 consecutive two arm Kettlebell swings. I fully expect that when I have completed this senseless act of personal violence against myself that I will promptly cough up a lung. After which I will also pick up my house over my head, just to show that I can.
Why? Perhaps it is a latent need to perform penance for my sins. Mostly though, it's because chicks dig a guy that can tear a phone book in half with his bare hands.

Golf Haiku

I took up golf last year for the first time. I have avoided the game for 42 years, but was finally tricked into it under the guise of having fun. Much to my chagrin, it was. Which probably indicates that I am not playing it right. I play with used clubs purchased at a yard sale, on a six-hole par 3 course (it's a long story). It's rough, with the greens pocked with random patches of gravel. That means nothing to me, ignorant as I am of the finer points of the game. I just like to whack the ball. I have dreams of Extreme Survival Golf, where the course is 50 miles long, and the players must carry all their own food and water.
As the snow has receded temporarily, and the ground begins to dry up and lose that squishy spongey moist quality so characteristic of the New England Mud Season (yes, it is the official 5th season) thoughts turn again to the ping of the ball flying of the face of my persimmon wood driver. I honor this ridiculous pastime now with a selection of Haiku. Special curses to Tom Weber who got me started.

Nine holes spaced on a lawn
I find them, each one.
A divining rod without a fork.

Graphite clubs, new balls,
A land full of promise.
The search for meaning begins.

The club, the tee, grass
Carpeting rolling hills.
The ball mocking silently.

Dimples on the white
Orb; it makes me sad.
The blue sky sliced by a ball.

I see the pin, white
And orange on short grass.
No gin for me. A dry day.

Spanglish

I watched a film this weekend that was evocative, provocative, thoughtful, graceful, passionate, tender, frightening and thoroughly entertaining. It is perhaps the most layered film I have seen in several years. This may simply be an indication that I don’t actually get to see that many films. Nevertheless I find it worth mentioning here simply because it moved me as a profoundly human story. It is titled “Spanglish.”
I will spare you most of the recap of the plot and simply express a few random comments. If you wish to more fully understand my comments, then I recommend that you view the film yourself. It is well worth it.
I love the title. The central theme of the movie is the problem of people speaking different languages. English and Spanish are the metaphor here. Our emotional language is the real subject. The metaphor is beautifully used. I didn’t really get it until after the film was over. I’m usually pretty sharp about these things, but the filmmakers managed to keep it understated.
Tia Leone was painful to watch – in a good way. Her character is so over the top, yet she didn’t seem to me to be overacting. I actually believed that people could be that freaked out about everything. Chloris Leachman is outstanding playing Tia's mother, a role that could have been a throwaway. Yet she brings to it a liveliness, realness and empathy that really makes the film.
The film is a great reminder that most people move through life alone, where even those who are supposed to “get you” seem unable to really see or hear you. To be seen and heard is all most of us really want. The moments when this occurred are highlights of the film. Making noise is not to be confused with actually communicating, no matter how loudly or with what amount passion we seek to imbue our own personal noise.

There are a few most excellent quotes:

Evelyn Wright: Lately, your low self esteem is just good common sense.

Deborah Clasky: [upon first seeing Cristina] Flor! Look at this child! You could
make a fortune doing surrogate pregnancy!

Deborah Clasky: Mother, are you buzzed?
Evelyn Wright: No. I quit drinking weeks ago! No one noticed, but I guess that's a pretty good indicator that I conducted myself quite well when I was drunk.

Animalia

I was meeting with some friends yesterday in a place with some big big plate glass windows. We were all very surprised by a loud crash when a fairly sizable bird smashed with a fairly sizable amount of force directly into the window. The bird died shortly thereafter. As best we can tell, it's a Cooper's Hawk. What a beautiful bird! It's now stored in our freezer while we try to find someone who might like to preserve it thru taxidermy. Museums, audobon society or maybe just some taxidermist who needs a bird to work on.
Last week I had to stop to let a beaver cross the road. This one survived...barely. He seemed to be in no big hurry, but then I'm not sure he really could go any faster. Nevertheless, if several generations of beavers are going to go about crossing Route 4 on a regular basis, I sure hope natural selection works quickly to help them develop adaptations that will increase their survival rate. The "waddle along and lets hope their headlights pick up my silhouette in time to stop" strategy seems to me to have some real shortcomings. I had not realized the beavers are so big. This boy was easily a yard long from nose to tail.
Our pet skunk has been at it again. He live under our shed. He comes around at night and digs holes in the yard looking for grubs and whatnot and if we leave the trashcans unsecured, he is pretty good at helping himself. It's no big deal but we have to be a little careful about stepping onto the deck after dark in the summer. Don't really wanna surprise that critter. So now we're going to be getting a dog in the next few months. I'm not sure how to train that pup to avoid the skunk. I'm thinking the skunk is gonna have to move, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it.
I have not had to stop for a moose yet this year, although I did last year.

The Secret

The Secret is the hot new thing is the world of media on motivation and personal development. It's a great introduction to the concept of The Law of Attraction. For those of you who are not familiar with the book or the concept, let me give it to you in a nutshell. The Law of Attraction means that when you focus on certain outcomes, you tend to attract (or create) those outcomes in your life. This is true of both things you want, and for things you don't want. In other words, if you spend all your time thinking about how unhappy you are, you will continue to have more and more reasons to be unhappy. If on the other hand, you begin focusing on how much you are grateful for, you will tend to attract more of those good things into your life.

The Secret spends a great deal of time unpacking the concept, it's implications, applications and mechanics. It has been very helpful to many people by giving them a focused practical process for taking responsibility for their actions, and taking concrete steps to improve their state. Generally I endorse it, and take much of it's basic premises to heart. As I said in my first post on this blog, I am very intentional about my approach to personal development. That is one reason why that is my business.

Nevertheless, I have some bones to pick with The Secret. For the sake of time, I'll just throw a few of the biggies up here on the wall for you, dear reader, to ponder. I will revisit these in more detail down the road.

First, the so-named Law of Attraction is NOT a secret and has not been hoarded and guarded by rich and accomplished people down through the ages. This is strongly implied if not spelled out in the opening sequences of the DVD. One example in ancient scripture -- "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Second, The Secret makes it way more mystical than it needs to be. The fact is that when you spend much of your time thinking about something, whether it is helpful, or whether it is damaging to you, you will tend to take actions, consciously or subconsciously, that will bring about that state. It's more about psychology, emotion, and communication that it is about metaphysics.

Third - although the DVD does make it clear that success is NOT only about money, there is a strong thread that equates wealth with owning large expensive things, traveling to faraway exotic places, and eating at luxurious restaurants. It seems to be assumed that if you are wealthy, this is how it ought to manifest itself. While I do not have a problem with wealth, in fact I intentionally am seeking to become a very wealthy person, I wish they would expand on what wealth really means, and what it is for. Since they don't, I guess I will (eventually).

Fourth - The Secret purports to be the solution to all of life's problems. I would say it's a powerful tool to apply to some of life's problems, but ultimately it leaves out one or two pretty BIG parts of the story.

More to come.

New Strategy

It seems that I cannot put aside a large enough block of time to write a lengthy post about anything. So, I'm going to try a new strategy. I'll be dropping a bunch of shorter posts, revisiting various themes. Let's hope it works. Some of them may be VERY short.

What going on?

There are days when whole essays emerge fully formed from my head, like Athena leaping from the head of Zeus. Then there are days (or weeks) when I seem to muddle around, juggling half-formed ideas, unlinked trains of thought, and unfocused outlines. I am in just such a time right now. I don't suppose this should be surprising, given that I am reading 4 books at once, attempting to break a personal record in my business, improve the current state of my house in preparation for guests, attend to a number for fairly pressing personal matters and still make time to love my family. My attentions and my energy is focused in directions that don't include a blog. No different from anybody else I expect, but I am finding that having a blog is a good thing. It actually makes me think more about writing down my thoughts and publishing them. Ultimately I believe that will be a beneficial discipline for me. Nevertheless, I'm still trying to figure out my personal blogging rhythms.
So here are some of the things I am juggling:
Christus Victor - This is another way of understanding what happened when Jesus dies and refused to stay that way. It's not so much the sacrifice, it's the victory that matters.
The Emerging Church - I have had several conversations about this maddeningly slippery concept. There is much to like and much not. I owe much of my developing thinking about this phenomenon to Assistant Village Idiot. His conversations are challenging me to sharpen my questions and answers about who these people are and what exactly they are doing. I'm finding that while much of my thinking actually seems to parallel much of theirs, I would never actually take on their label.
The Secret - I'm in the business of personal and professional development. "The Secret" is a film and book that may be one of the biggest events in this kind of business in decades. It's becoming in and of itself a huge pop culture phenomenon. While at a certain level, I applaud and agree with much of what it puts forth, for many people, it will become ( or has become) their substitute for true religion. What should I think about it?
Goals and Grace - In more general terms, I would like to explore the relationship between the American success philosophy and the Gospel. They are not the same, but they also have some fascinating points of intersection.
The Sacraments and Worship - This has been bubbling around for a long long time. My theology of both baptism and the Eucharist have undergone almost complete overhauls over the last several years (decade?). In part, this means that these holy rituals have become much more central to my thinking. I'm very excited about this, but it also has created some problems in terms of figuring out how to work out my new understanding.

These are some of the bigger items in development. There are others that are too unformed to really include here. I find it fascinating how much of this is specifically Christian in nature. I guess I spend more time than I realize thinking about this whole Jesus business. Go figure.

Well...check back every once in a while. Eventually I'll develop some of this stuff into something more complete and informative. It might even contain something worthwhile.