Here is my latest vlog for notes from the vicarage. If you are an artist and you are looking for an encouraging, creative community I invite you to find The Bridge Artistic Network FaceBook Group…we are a bunch of loving creative and really cool people.
Matthew 5:15-20 says:
15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Emphasis mine)
I don’t post a lot about current events or political things. Today, as I have thought, and prayed, and talked with some, I come to the following conclusions…
1) The tragic death of George Floyd is not a current event. The way people of any Ethnicity other than white, have long been handled in a manner that is anything but at the very least decent. And this has been happening since the days of Bible, and it has to stop!
2) This is not political, social justice, police or any grouping of people issue. This is a heart issue!
Simply stated the founding principle of our great land is this, “All men are created equal!” Jesus loved this way, so should we! If it weren’t for a police officer, a gun, a racial divide, drugs, or crime, or any other thing that steals the center stage – we would all…
125 artists are now a part of the Bridge Artistic Network!!! I am super excited to see how this continues to grow and become!!!
One thing I know is that Artists/Creatives never stop creating….pandemic or no…the art inside of us refuses to be hindered!
Let this time clear the path so that you can engage all those creative spaces and places that lay deeply planted inside of you. Keep going. Keep creating. Keep becoming more YOU!
I didn’t write about how this “settling in” has affected the work of ministry. That was intentional. The effect this pandemic has had upon who I am as a minister and what I do as a minister is so profound I do not think I can fit it into one post. I thought it would be wrong to try and squeeze it in, as a line item, along with those other things.
I imagine most ministers have been doing a lot of work using Facebook and e-mail and phone calling. I certainly have. Just today I have started three new conversations on Facebook with men in my congregation.
I have also increased communication with folks who do not come to the church. One of my friends who I have been writing back and forth with summed up what I have been feeling beautifully.
She writes: “One aspect of these times that I’m enjoying is reclaiming my instincts and inclinations as an introvert. After all those years of being out there working at the edge of so many things, it feels comfortable and even familiar to pull back, be quiet (at least my mind and voice) .. and follow the lead of my body as it takes me to the garden, weeding, walking the dog, fixing food, etc.”
I have been working as a minister in my town since 1991. Like my friend I feel like all these years I have been “working at the edge of so many things”. I don’t regret one bit of it. Pastoring has been a wonderful life and will continue to be as I move into the future. But I am so enjoying this radical new discovery which I think I have to call introverted pastoring.
I love and miss my church family. I may be shooting myself in the foot here, but since we have been praying for authenticity, transparency and vulnerability in our church for months here goes nothin’. What I do not miss is the parade of events that was the church before Covid-19. I am loving having one on one meetings via Zoom or Facebook Live, in which I can simply relate to people without the pressure of having to do business or plan an event. I am really loving having days-long and even weeks-long theological conversations by letter (or messenger) with congregants. I have loved grocery shopping for elderly people in the congregation. I have enjoyed having the time and energy to study the Bible without having to rush through in order to prepare for the rest of the week’s events.
While many of my extroverted congregants and colleagues descry the loss of community, I feel as though I have found a new level of community which is profound, deep and rich, because it is not based around large scale social events but around individual connections.
When we finally get to be back together, I am determined to change how I pastor, no matter what the cost, to reflect this new model of introverted pastoring. I do not know yet what all the changes will look like. I know it will involve saying yes on a permanent level to a more quiet lifestyle, but how that susses out, well, that is all part of the quiet adventure I am on.
“Changing the frame doesn’t change the picture it changes the way you look at the picture.” Author Paul Scanlon
I am afraid that way to often, we look at the picture(s) of our life through the frame of self, pain, hurt, sin, humanness, etc… Way more often than we look through the frame of God’s amazing love for us, His forgiveness, His signature on the masterpiece of our life, and His plan for us. Perhaps the frames we use have burdened the plan of His call for our life. Thus making the burden way to heavy for us to carry, way to obsolete to be relevant in this time, perhaps even too ugly for the beauty that He has created all around us.
The thoughts of my heart and soul, are now shifting to visual of His ultimate enjoyment in seeing you and I be more like Him, than the…
There are several new habits I have formed over the last six weeks. One of those habits is walking for at least 30 minutes a day. Today I took my walk at 10:30 A.M. I texted Amanda and Brenda to see if they wanted to come, but Amanda fell asleep and Brenda’s back was feeling a little out of joint this morning, so I walked by myself today. Here are some pictures I took on the way.
“Changing the frame doesn’t change the picture it changes the way you look at the picture.” Author Paul Scanlon
Notes From the Vicarage 