Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Passion

I've been thinking about my experience at the Adaptive Leadership Academy in Denver. There is so much information to process and so many experiences to consider that I'll probably (hopefully) be thinking about that experience for a long time to come.

The word that came to mind this morning is PASSION. It is a word that is used in many different contexts and with many definitions. Interestingly during the keynote address from Rick Barger at the Academy, he mentioned that his son who is a "power consultant" in Corporate America has stated that the word PASSION is no longer the term to use when talking about someone's drive and desire for something, that the word has become meaningless, but as Rick mentioned, and I agree, there is no better word to use, especially in the church.

When I think of PASSION I think of excellence, people who can do nothing other than what they are doing, people who are willing to commit all of themselves to a project or vocation.

We all have passion for something. Unfortunately, for most people, passion is misplaced. It is directed to the things that don't really matter in life: bigger houses, newer cars, better seats at sporting events, more acquaintances (and ones who can increase our status), the newest technological toys, another television for another room in the house, I think you get the idea.

But then I meet people, like the people at Abiding Hope Lutheran Church and I see PASSION as it is meant to be: People who have a passion to make a difference in the lives of the less-fortunate (they donated over $250,000 to Haitian efforts in 2006 with plans to donate over $1 million to such efforts by 2010); People who worship God passionately and without worrying "what does my neighbor think of my worship practices"; People who open their homes to students for three weeks and share their lives with them; Adult men who cry openly because they see that God's plan for this world has been manipulated by us humans to serve our needs.

The church openly uses the word PASSION each year around Easter and this was made no more public than in Mel Gibson's movie, yet I think many of us Christians either miss or forget what the PASSION of Christ is really all about. Many get caught in the graphic nature of the crucifixion, many simply see a process that was necessary for the forgiveness of human sin, but I believe the PASSION refers to where Christ's heart is, where all of his efforts point: that each human being matters so much to him, not as nameless faces in a crowd, but in a personal relationship, that Jesus was willing to endure the pain and suffering in order that we might, as John 10:10 states, "have life and have it abundantly."

But there is something that many seem to overlook in the PASSION. Oh, we think about it on Easter Sunday, but we often fail to see that it is how we should live each day. The tomb is empty. Christ's PASSION doesn't end at the grave, but it rises with him and through the Holy Spirit it should live in us today. The love for others that focuses our efforts not on how to make ourselves better, but how to lift up the less fortunate.

This morning in my devotional time I was reading an excerpt from Martin Luther's commentary on "The Magnificat" in which Luther writes, "God's eyes look upon the lowly. The eyes of the world, on the contrary, look only above the lowly and are lifted up with pride. Even now and to the end of the world, all God's works are such that out of that which is nothing, worthless, despised, wretched, and dead, he makes that which is something, precious, honorable, blessed and living.

When we begin to live our lives realizing that the tomb is empty, our passions shift to the people that matter to God.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Home

Well, after three weeks in Denver, I finally made it "home" to Berkeley on Thursday night. My travel wasn't without its adventures, sitting in the airport in Denver for three hours (because Southwest airlines doesn't let you fly standby on an earlier flight without paying a lot of extra money) so of course I found the bar in the terminal and enjoyed a local beer (something called Colorado Amber, nothing too exciting, no New Belgium, that's for sure). Once I got on the plane it wouldn't be a direct flight, so a stop in Las Vegas was necessary ... it's a crazy place to transfer planes. Large crowds of people waiting for planes, slot machines ringing in the background, and unfortunately a long wait at Sbarro, so I didn't get a chance to grab anything to eat. I did arrive in Oakland a bit early and event after waiting for my luggage (for what seemed like forever) I was able to catch AirBART and the BART in perfect timing (walked up to each of them just in time) and got to meet my lovely wife waiting for me at the North Berkeley BART station.

"Home" is an interesting concept for me anymore. I still think of "home" as Minnesota, I guess because I haven't lived anywhere else as long as I lived in Minnesota. But I also find myself using the word "home" to refer to anywhere I live. When I was in Denver I would refer to the house I stayed at as "going home for the night". Here in Berkeley I talk about our apartment as "home". When we lived in Tennessee, our house was most definitely a "home".

So what is home? Is it, as the old adage says, "where the heart is"? But if that is the case, then is home where your treasure is? (read Jesus words in Matthew, "for where your treasure is, there your heart is also") Is "home" a place, a state of being, a place with a certain relationship?

I can't say I have the answer to my question, but I do know that for now, I am "home" and getting ready for another semester of learning! Maybe part of that learning will be learning what "home" really is.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Perspective

It's funny how perspective changes the way you look at things. Ten people can look at the same happening and none of them will look at it the same way. Take for example the weather. I'm hanging out in Denver currently where it snowed a light and fluffy beauty all day today. This on top of several feet of snow that has dropped down weekly over the past 5 weeks.

I look out the window and marvel at the beauty, how the snow lands peacefully on the tree branches, how it covers the dirty road, and how the animals quietly scamper across it outdoors. I enjoy the snow, I love the snow, I miss the snow (living in Tennessee the last 3 winters I didn't see much snow and it certainly didn't amount to much when it did come).

Compare to my view, the 10-year-old who lives in the house I am staying in. Her perspective is that it is cold out, but the snow would be great for sledding. She couldn't fathom why no one wanted to take her out sledding (I would have gone, but alas my winter-wear is in Minnesota, and I know better than to venture out in the snow without being properly dressed, plus football was on).

Compare that view to that of my hosts ... Jon was undecided about the snow, while he thought it was nice in appearance (especially from inside) he wasn't too excited to go out and shovel the driveway or sweep the deck. Lori on the other hand came in with a simple statement, "It's yucky outside".

Yes our perspective is tempered by many things and each of us looks at the world very differently. As I reflect on my last two weeks here in Denver studying at the Adaptive Leadership Academy I keep thinking about how it has molded my perspective for looking at the world, I will not see the church the same anymore and I think that's a good thing. I could say a lot about what I have learned but the biggest thing is this: What is, is. It's not good or bad, it just is. We have to accept realty and move forward, there is no sense in pointing fingers.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Giving This A Whirl

Well, many people have told me that I should get into the world of blogging, and since I've had a little free time today, I thought I would give it a try and see what happens. Over the past weeks I have sent emails to friends thinking "gee, if I had a blog, I would post that thought there" but alas until today I didn't have a blog to post to and as such things often go, I have now forgotten what I wanted to type.

I have some old writings somewhere that might make it onto this blog over time, things that I thought were good at the time I wrote them, hopefully they still are. I am sure I will come up with new writings as time moves on and you'll get the joy of reading my thoughts. I may also use this as a way to keep people up on my life without having to annoy anyone with mass emails, you can just check in as you wish to see what I've been up to.

So far, I'm not too afraid of this blog thing, but as I learn more about it, I might get frightened, so please hold my hand and we'll walk on together.