Monday, August 30, 2004

Shalom Revisited

For the past few weeks I have felt led to discuss & explore the Jewish concepts of Shalom & Sabbath. Why - you ask? For one I think every person has within in them a longing for peace & rest. I live in a culture that longs for both but seems to have lost both the art & science of finding it. We were created for Eden but have been cursed with the sting of death by sin. Like a confused deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car - we freeze in shock of our impending death not knowing what to do. I chuckle as I drive down my city's streets and see the health stores & gyms& wellness centres. We desire to live forever but believe the lie that our money can buy happiness & health.

What is shalom you ask? I refered to it as peace above and it is commonly known as a Jewish greeting. Much like our own North American greetings - it has lost its meaning over time. How are doing? is not a question looking for an honest reply but a way of breaking the ice. Shalom is about restoring what has been lost or broken. Shalom exists when the prodigal son comes home to his Father. Shalom exists when a child is born into this world. Shalom exists when we seek God in prayer. Shalom is about mending relationships with God, with people, and with creation.

In Brian McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christian, there is a scene when one of the characters defines religion. Neo’s description of religion also describes the intent of the concept of Shalom. “The old Latin roots of the word simply mean ‘reconnecting,’ you know—broken ligaments, severed connections, being reconnected and defragmented. That sounds like exactly what we need, don’t you think? We’re ‘deligamented,’ disconnected, fragmented people who need to be‘religamented,’ reconnected, put back together with God, with on another, reintegrated within ourselves, reconnected to the world we are part of.” I desire this blog to be a place where Shalom reigns or is at the very least rekindled.

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Calm Before The Storm

Well - I've got less than a week and half before I'm back on the saddle again. I'm looking forward to teaching again (do I ever actually stop learning or teaching?) and attempting to inspire young minds to do great things. I realize though - my lifestyle will soon change from summer mode to speeder mode. Right now during my prep time - I spend a few days prepping a lecture. Then - it will be 3-4 hours prep-time then teach then back to prep. Two new courses Interpersonal Processes & the Psalms. Ironically - both are about communication. The first being more focused on communicating with other people and the second communicating with God. Martin Buber has been a blessing in disguise in that regard.

I find it happens often though - subjects flowing into others. Just like people - relationships love to ooze and collide with other situations or people. Soon I will be put back into the gladiator ring of education and chaos will rule. Even now I'm longing for a time-out, an escape, a holiday on a warm tropical island. But I love it. I embrace the chaos & confusion. I love to see minds challenged, thoughts created, ideas inspired, to go where no teacher has gone before!

Right now is the calm before the storm. How will be able to put sabbath into my week? How will I escape to recuperate, to refocus, to re-energize? For me - it's always involved God's creation - the great outdoors!

G

BTW - Aimee is three weeks old! Chelsea has a nasty scar on her forehead from a collision with a door but is loving being a big sister. Wendy is doing much better but too is not looking forward to me being away at college or me working long hours.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Community

I'm in the midst of prepping yet another college course - this time Interpersonal Processes. It is a fancy title that basically refers to how we communicate within relationships with other people. At first I was a bit nervous with teaching the course as in the past it was taught from more a counselor-type perspective. I soon began to realize though that I could take a different approach - more of a facilitator approach that suits my abilities in experiential initiatives & exercises.

I have always been curious as to how people respond in situation involving a problem to be solved, a conflict, or even a crisis. How do you communicate with others when there is a fire, you are a witness to a robbery, you are involved in an accident? How do you communicate with your spouse when you don't disagree with a decision he or she has made? How would we cope with not being able to communicate with someone?

Over the summer, I like to challenge myself with difficult 'reads' - books that I have to reread and digest before I can come to a conclusion about. Books by thought-provoking authors like Kierkegaard, Thoreau, Pascal, Commenius, etc. One of the books I am still in the process of reading is entitled 'I & Thou' and is written by a Hasidic Jew by the name of Martin Buber. His basic premise is that humankind was created to interact with each other in community. I-It relationships are not what God intended - in other words treating people like objects simply goes against his eternal design. I-You draws near to Buber's ideal of mutuality & equality within relationship but the ideal is I-Thou. I-Thou is the highest form of human communication because each person affirms the other as of great value and unique. It goes even further in acknowledging the need for relationship with God.

Who are we? We are designed to be involved with each other. We are designed for relationship & community. We are designed to communicate with Creation & the Creator. We are the human race - fallen but ready to take flight in community.

G

Sunday, August 15, 2004

Sanctuary

It's been a week of having Aimee as a member of our family! Slowly we are getting used to this whole 2 child thing as a family. It has definitely not been an easy transition but Aimee is loved by all of us. Chelsea no longer is the centre of attention but in all honesty I probably am spending more time with her than before because Wendy is focused on recovering from the birth and looking after Aimee's needs.

One thing I fasted from this week was my love of mountain biking and it was tough. But today I went to God's church on two wheels - yep my Sunday morning was spent mountain biking in His amazing creation! I had a good ride - not my best time but not my worst for this particular trail. I stopped twice for a few seconds to catch my breath after a technical climb but it was all good! Tomorrow it's back to the office and more course & syllabi prep! It will be tough but we will survive. Baby Aimee is doing good, Wendy is getting better but there are a few more hurdles to overcome but such is life in a young growing family.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Breathe Deep

Well - I've managed to catch my breath and actually get another post online. Aimee and Wendy are both home! We are enjoying our new daughter - she is beautiful with similar facial features to her sister Chelsea but has long dark hair! She also appears to be more relaxed than her older sister which hopefully will allow for some much needed recovery time for Wendy.

Chelsea and I have been spending a lot time together - tricycling, being creative with play-dough, going for rides in my dad's golf cart, reading, etc. It actually has been a lot of fun! Unfortunately - I won't have as much time with anyone as I'm officially in the office more regularly next week. I was in the office last week as we were anticipating this week being the baby's arrival.

Breathe deep - breathe deep the breath of God! Aimee is an amazing creation and we praise the Maker for both her and Chelsea! What a privilege to learn and grow with these two amazing daughters. We know many challenges lie ahead but oh the learning and adventure to be had!

Sunday, August 08, 2004

A New Baby!

This will be a quick post but I wanted to announce the exciting news that Wendy and I welcomed a new addition to our family this morning at 7:45am! Aimee Joy Friesen is a beautiful baby girl and her big sister Chelsea is very proud of her! Check out this link for details!

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Losing My Religion Part 2

I work at a college sponsored in part by three Mennonite denominations - obviously the Anabaptist heritage of the school is important to be passed on. But if we fall into the trap of being somehow saved by being an Anabaptist or Mennonite or Baptist or Evangelical Free instead of following Christ - we clearly have missed the point of the Gospel. The good news is that following the law is not what brings salvation! Again - don't misunderstand me - there is nothing wrong with holding onto a faith that is guided by Anabaptist teachings but if we somehow think being a Mennonite (or your fill in the blank denomination) brings salvation we simply have it all wrong. The Gospel is about relationship with Christ, with the living God. Does it make life easier - not a chance - it will probably make your life harder because Christ calls us to sacrifice everything to follow Him.

True Christianity is not about following rules, it is about following Jesus. It about being a friend to the people you typically avoid. It is about living out the beattitudes in Matthew 5 and being honest to God. It is about reaching out to the poor, the hurting, the outcasts, the dying, the hopeless. Who are the lepers of today? The majority of homosexuals assume that Christians hate them. We respond - "Oh no - we don't hate them we just don't like their sin." Do we treat divorced people the same? How about people who cheat on their taxes? Instead of being concerned about whether or not gays marry someone of the same sex - why don't we instead care that so many people are dying from AIDS?

Self-righteous bumper-sticker Christians beware - read Matthew 6. Don't toot your own horn about what you are doing for God. It's not what you do for God - it's what He does through you that is important! Okay - i'm starting to sound a little preachy...sorry I don't mean to bug ya. But don't you think we should (and I should) start following Christ rather than a list of rules & regulations.

We are called to share the life given to us not death. We are called to share grace not guilt or condemnation. We have no right to be simply grace-takers... we are called to be grace-givers as well!

G

"Religion is when God leaves the room and people make up rules to fill the space." -Bono

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Losing My Religion

Do you remember REM's song Losing My Religion? I remember the tune being incredibly catchy but the lyrics bothered me at first. In part, it was due to my misunderstanding of what the song was about and I suppose what religion is all about. I guess at first I thought it was about actually walking away from a faith in God. It turns out the expression of "losing my religion" is from the southern states and refers to losing one's cool or simply cursing. Hmm - when's the last time you lost your religion? Was it when that guy cut you off the other day?

The phrase "losing my religion" for me personally means something very different than swearing. No - it's not about walking away from God but rather walking away from the constructs or "box" we put on our faith in God. It's not that those religious trappings are inherently bad, in fact ritual & a focus on holiness can be a good thing. But when we depend on religion to save us or make us appear righteous we are walking down the wrong road. Religion does not bring us righteousness but rather self-righteousness.

Let's face it - the culture we now live in does not particularly like people called Christians (definitely not fundamentalists) but they seem to have no problem with Jesus. If only the people that actually call themselves Christians would live out a faith that honestly followed Jesus. It's not about going to church (not that it's bad to go to church), about wearing the right clothes (definitely not about WWJD bracelets), about posting the 10 commandments on our school wall (but maybe the beattitudes?), or blowing up abortion clinics (definitely not!). But it is about being honest to others and to God about who we are. All of us need to lose our dependency on religion and focus in on Christ.

This past Sunday, Pastor Terry Kaufman entitled his challenge to our church 'The Refuse of "Religion" on the Road to Righteousness.' It was a gutsy message based on Paul's letter to the Philippians (see Phil. 3:1-11). Let's face it we all desire to be right with God and look right to everyone else. But being a follower of Christ is not about appearing righteous to others. It is being dependent on Jesus - the attention is not on us but on Him. Before we can be called holy - we need to be broken! Pastor Terry talked about how Man's religion is all about status and accomplishment; about following rules and looking good! Paul called this refuse - in the original Greek it is closer to dung or you can fill in the less-sanitized more current four letter expletives if you wish.

It seems to me that Jesus broke a lot of these so-called rules - he hung out with all the wrong people: prostitutes, taxmen, shepherds, the lepers, etc. It seem he not only was the life of the party - he also was their bartender! Jesus was most critical and condemning to the religious. The most militant Jesus we see is when he starts overturning tables in the local synagogue. He was more liberals than the liberals in reaching out to the poor & sick on the Sabbath and more conservative than the conservatives when it came to acknowledging God.