the status quo is a bully

I have this friend. Well I would say he's a little more than a friend, because he's much like a brother to me. We've only been friends for around a year but he is one of those rare people that come into your life and you know instantly that you are supposed to journey with them. You’d think we’ve been friends for years.

This friend and I make a point of getting together, having a chat and exchanging ideas on a regular basis. One day we were downtown having a tea when I started sharing my frustrations with our societies addiction to consumerism, selfishness, greed and wastefulness. If any of you know Kelly and I you’re well aware that we find value and biblical direction in things like recycling, living simply, buying local, intentional community, handcrafting, natural childbirth, creativity, peace, justice and the like. The frustrations that I was expressing to my friend stemmed from two areas.

The first area of tension was with our culture and the Churches acceptance of what seems to be the antithesis of what Kelly and I (and many others) believe to be biblical values for how we should interact with others and this earth. You know all that bible stuff about loving others, sharing our coats, breaking bread, blessing peacemakers and what not.

The second area of tension was how much Kelly and I actually feed this system. We are guilty on a daily basis and largely due to sheer laziness/business. I am a firm believer in practicing what I preach so I formally apologize for being a hypocrite sometimes.

Anyway, I was expressing these frustrations and that segwayed into a conversation about how when we choose to live countercultural, when we choose to love our neighbor well, live simply, share our things and take care of the environment, we are often labeled as hippie, liberal, artsy fartsy, tree hugger or just plain crazy. Part of the tragedy is that these labels come out maliciously and are ill intended. I believe this happens because you are for one, threatening their lifestyle or two, they know the right things to do but are to lazy to do them. Anger often comes out of self-hate. Whatever the reason may be for how people respond, it is painfully clear that there is a status quo and you are not meeting it.

In the middle of my venting rant my friend stopped me and said, " You know I'm not very wise, but occasionally I have something to offer that resembles wisdom. In my experience the status quo is a bully. If you step out of line it will knock you back in."

Just brilliant and so true.

We went on to discuss that yes the status quo is a bully and if you refuse its pressures you might just get beaten up or thrown out of class. Being bullied by the status quo is or should be reality for followers of Jesus. Jesus didn't meet the status quo, so I'm not surprised that his followers wouldn’t either.

Newton's third law states that, "for every action (force) there is an equal and opposite reaction (force." This is good news because for every community of people that buy into the status quo, there is another community of people who are waiting to accept, love and cherish the destitute, the disgusting; the disenchanted and disengaged weirdo’s like us. Being a good neighbor is about embracing your inner outcastness.

Crack Pot Poetry (I thought I'd try it again)

Wake Up --
Wake up sleepers. You sleep deeply in your plush, leather wrapped, luxury prisons. You eat and drink your specialties, all the while baring the rib cages of the hungry. Your kingdoms are built on the backs of those who rejoice in their suffering and suffer as you rejoice over your blessing. Wake up sleepers. Radio waves and plasma screens subdue your consciousness with wants and desires that rape your mind. Wake up sleepers. Your dreams of triumph overshadow the cries of brokeness. Can't you see you are broken too? Wake up. Can't you see you are poor too? Wake up. Can't you see your consumption has become cannibalism? Wake up you pew sitting political assassins. Are we not supposed to reflect a glory that is not our own? Wake up from your coma of apathy. The time is now, not yesterday, not a thought for the future, but a thought of the past. Wake up you've slept in, the alarm has rung, the curtains are pulled, you've pushed the snooze button for the last time. There's plenty to do, so stop being done. Wake up. The pacifier of self salvation no longer will sooth the worlds suffering. Wake up. You with ears, hear. You with eyes, see. You with hands, hold. You with feet, walk. You with minds, think. You with words, inspire. Wake up creativity. Wake up hope. Wake up love. Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, Im guilty too.

literarily simple, unendingly complex, completely fullfilling

God is constantly in the process of chipping away, massaging my ego and remolding who and what he wants me to be. While he has been journeying with me for the last 27.5 years, I have only discovered his love for me in the last 20. I would say that only in the last 4 years have I really been able to grasp what love really is, how it feels, and what it does for me and to me.

I have been through some stuff.

divorce, job loss, dumb choices, good choices, obedience, remarriage, NICU/emergency surgery/hours of therapy w/ my first child, miscarriage, loss of relationships, new relationships, call, obedience, waiting...

Life is writing this story, God is directing it, I am a character (quiet literally) and ultimately love is the ending and the new beginning.

If love is the ending and new beginning, then the waiting, the challenges, the good things - are all worth it.

Understanding this has given me a mission and a purpose. While literarily simple, it is unendingly complex and completely fulfilling.
Love God, Love others - simple, complex, fulfilling

Try it. Embrace it. Let it completely redirect you.

Old Post: Toledo or Bust

As you know a while back I posted a comment about New Monasticism and starting a community house in Toledo. Well since that point much has happened. First, I received a new position at Church where I will responsible to guide Crossroads into a more missional posture and DNA. This is a God send as the community house will be a huge part of our ministry in the city. Secondly, I am just back from running The Wild Goose Festival kids area. It was a brilliant time and I am looking forward to running things again next year. I was inspired as I connected with and witnessed multiple New Monastic communities that were present. Thirdly, Kelly and I are finally putting our house up for sale. Once the house to is sold we are headed on words to Toledo. We can't wait to get into the city. To be with the people in the Old West End Neighborhood. To learn, to love, to live together.
Some interesting connections have happened since we started this journey and briefly I want to list a few here. The way that God is leading through this process has given me great hope for the future of our community. Here is what has happened...

- new missions position at Crossroads
- friendship with Sam Melden - Food for Thought (www.freelunchtoledo.com)
- friendship with Don Schiever - pastor at New Harvest Church
- friendship with Steve North - director of mens ministries at the Cherry Street Mission, founding pastor of Lifeline a communal/missional church that meets in his house in the Old West End. He is also the mastermind of 4.5 immersion, immersing students into poverty as a learning experience. (http://www.facebook.com/4.5toledo), (www.lifelinetoledo.com)
- friendship with Ken Leslie - creator of One Matters - runs Tent City and founder of the Toledo Streets Paper a micro-lending organization. (www.1matters.org)
- deeper involvement in New Tribe Fellowship - a socially, economically and culturally diverse group of people practicing authentic community, loving and serving each other in the name of Jesus. We are here to provide a community for Arab folks from both a Christian and Muslim background. Showing the the love of Jesus in authentic and intentional community.
- connection with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove author of New Monasticism, Wisdom of Stability, Common Prayer and a few others. He has provided great insight into the development of our community and it is likely I will participate in the School of Conversion he runs. (www.newmonasticism.org)


Through this journey, thus far, God has opened to door and I have met some great neighbors. I am excited to see where we are headed next. For now please pray for the sale of our house and for wisdom into this next season. I will be sure to keep you updated on what's to come. If you are inspired to be a part of what we are hoping to do in Toledo please connect with me anytime because i'd love to hear your story and to see how you can be a part. For now grace and peace.

Old Post: New Monasticism

Lately God has been doing a number on my heart and mind. He has been saying things to me like "How can you say you love the poor if you don't know anyone who is poor?" or "Hey Jamie, I gave you a passion for the church, for community, for justice, for the environment, for wholeness, for inclusiveness, would you just go and do something with these things already?" So maybe the second sentence isn't an exact quote, but you get the idea. For the last 8 years or so God has put this intense tugging on my heart to be a part of a Christian community that lives more closely to the model we are given of early Christianity in Acts.

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

I am realizing that there is so much truth and depth to what God has called the Church to be. I don't want this next bit to be a postmodern deconstructionist rant, but I see and sense that the American Church has greedily taken the form of capitalism and consumerism rather than the body/physical presence of Jesus in the world. I have seen in my own life that I too am guilty of losing site of my brother and sister, because I am more concerned with myself. Yet this is not at all what God has created the Church to be. In the Gospels, Jesus speaks of the Church as his literal body. His presence here on earth. In order to understand this concept we have to understand that in order for the body to be effective all parts must work together. Yet look at the Churches, we are competing for members, for our geographical plot of land, for members wallets to pay for our glorious buildings and our slick media presentations. I'm not convinced that God is happy with the fact that we spend 90% of our budgets to maintain our massive facilities and hierarchical salaries. Let me ask you what else do we see Jesus' body doing? For one he serves others with it. He uses his hands to touch the leper, make the blind see, to feed 5000, to accept a nail and even to wash the filthy feet of his disciples. If we are his body should we not be doing the same? Wasn't Jesus body resurrected? Shouldn't the Church then live in the Resurrection? I could go on with this metaphor all day but I will leave that up to you. This is a portion of my anguish over the Church. I feel as though somewhere along the line we have missed a few things, a few big things. In the midst of this tension I absolutely love the Church and God has called me to look at things differently. He has called both Kelly and I to begin to embrace and live these values. When, where and how I am not positive.
I have been reading a lot about this river of thought and community called "New monasticism." The irony of New Monasticism is that it is not new at all. In fact it has very old roots. New Monasticism is a prophetic call of resurrection for the Church. I am not going to go into it much tonight because I am tired, but I will leave you with the 12 principles of this river. Here they are...

1) Relocation to Abandoned places of Empire
2) Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us
3) Hospitality to the stranger
4) Lament for radical divisions within the church and our communities combined with an active pursuit of a just reconciliation
5) Humble submission to Christ's body - the church
6) Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate
7) Nurturing common life among the members of intentional community
8) Support the celibate singles alongside the monogamous married couples and their children
9) Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life
10) Care for the plot of Gods earth given to us along with support of our local economies
11) Peacekeeping in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18
12) Commitment to the disciplined contemplative life

These 12 principles make our hearts rejoice with hope and freedom for the Church. Our desire, in the not so distant future is to either be a part of community livings these principles or to form one ourselves. I encourage you that if these 12 grab you internal being and shake it at all, please look into it more. Check out TheSimpleway.org - Read books by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. They will be well worth your time. Also Id love to talk with you about it as well. That is all for now my friends.

Old Post: Thoughts on Fear

Lately I have been thinking a lot about fear. Things like why people fear, what people fear, how fear influences peoples decisions and so on. As I have surveyed my life I have realized that many of my decisions and actions have come from a place of fear. As I witnessed fear as a driving force in my life I began to wonder if this is true for others?

I began to people watch.
Which I love.

I talked with friends and had multiple conversations and what were the results? The same pattern. Fear had influence, major influence. Fear lead to shame, fear lead to failure, fear of failure lead to insecurity, sometimes we're afraid and we don't even know what of. I have begun to see a pattern emerge.

Since I have become keen to fears influence I have had some interesting experiences with it. Just the other day I was in a conversation with someone I have known for a while. This person is very nice, kind, fun and often a bit over the top. In this particular conversation this person was being over the top and border line crazy obnoxious. This pattern I have seen with this person before, but in the context of fear I began to understand a little better.

If you knew this persons story,
you would have compassion.

This person in particular has a history of being an outsider only finding community or community attention by being over the top. As a way of survival and as a reaction to the fear of being alone this particular friend has adapted with fears influence. So is this person just being obnoxious to be obnoxious? No, they're afraid. They're afraid they're not lovable and afraid to be alone.

I think this is true for all people.
No one is exempt.

Why do people talk behind other peoples backs? Fear of not being accepted. Why do couples get upset at one another when they can't be reached after multiple phone calls? Fear of losing someone close them. Why are people straight up mean? Fear of intimacy. I am sure you can think of many more reactions as a result of fear.

Fear grabs ahold of us and as Christians it has played a prominent and unfortunate role in our story.
Think back to Adam and Eve.
What's the fall all about?
Fear.

"Did God really say you couldn't eat from the tree?" You can be like him knowing good and evil." These statements created fear. Satan was a smart little sucker. Attack human insecurity and create fear. Fear that God was withholding. Fear that God didn't love them enough to give them everything. Fear of not being enough. So what was their response to fear? "Well, it seems that we're really on our own so lets eat some of that fruit." Fear screwed things up.

Then there was the curse. Pain in childbearing. Fear of pain and fear that you will never be a good enough mother. Then the whole bit about desiring your husband and him ruling over you. This is a fear of not being enough, not being lovable and not being able to capture his attention. Why do you think Father's have such impact on their daughters?

Then for men. Hard labor. Fear of not having worth unless you are successful in your work. Fear of not being able to provide. So as men we overwork, over achieve and die young. All at the detriment of our family.

The cycle of fear continues and if you notice,
one feeds the other.

I could go on with countless more stories and analogies but I think you can see what I'm saying. So, are we just trapped? Is there no way out of this pattern? Let me share with you a few things that are working for me these days.

Risk - Have a little risk in your life. Something that you don't have complete control of. Calculated risk kills fear.
Adventure - Find adventures in your life. Climb a little higher, take the day off with family during the busiest season of the year at work.
Stand up for something you believe in.
Share your fear.
Listen to God.
Love unconditionally.

Of course I am not perfect in these things but I can tell you that I am well on my to being more aware of fear and what stops it. So what is your fear and what can you do take it head on?