Live from Rome V - Why Church and State Separation is Such a Good idea.

Well as I mentioned yesterday today was the day that we visited Monte Cassino, the first Benedictine Monastery founded by Saint Benedict himself. It was beautifully situated on a mountain, baroque glory, marble, fountains, statues, frescoes, mosiac, and canvas... BEAUTIFUL.

Apparently, in WWII the allied troops destroyed the town of Cassino and the Monastery of Monte Cassino thinking that the monastery was keeping German troops. Everything was destroyed except the high altar, underwhich the bones of Saint Benedict and his twin sister Saint Scholastica reside. In fact, the altar was hit by a bomb... but the bomb stopped, embedded itself in the floor, and didn't go off. The only things left standing after the attack were Saint Benedict's statue, and the altar.

However, the government rebuilt the monastery according to it's original specifications which were kept in the archives in Rome. The monastery is now the property of Governmenta Italiana, not the monks. According to the tour guide: '' This is our national treasure.''

The Monks for their part, own only the liturgical appointments in the monastery (Vestments, Chalices, etc.)

When the time came for mass, it was the guard who unlocked the tabernacle so the priest could take out the reserve elements. The guard walked up and down the isles during mass to make sure people didn't have their cell phones on. The guard also served as acolyte and silenced the people by saying SHHHHHH!!!!

More than that, after mass, and after the tour, we were all sitting in the plaza and on the steps. We were tired, the weather was perfect, fountains were splashing, and we had our shoes off, we were enjoying being in our ''Mother House''. All of a sudden, the guards came through... and made everyone stand... Apparently you aren't allowed to sit! He then made everyone be completely silent rather than the quiet banter we experienced before.

So there we were... standing in the middle of the plaza... standing there completely quiet, uncomfortable and confused! You see, Benedictines are all about hospitality... the moments before the guard came we were talking about God and what we had learned, about Mass, and becoming better friends... After, we were almost afraid to be community.

I know that this guard was merely doing his job, but his ethos was vastly different from the ethos on which the Monastery was originally founded: ''All guests are to be treated as Christ''. It was then I realized what it meant for the government to own the church, and what effect that can have on Christian community. I could not imagine, if Jesus had traveled for miles and walked up a mountain, and was tired that we would make him stand and not speak. As wonderful as it all was, something is wrong in Monte Cassino.

Live From Rome IV - I am SO moving to Rome!

Oh my goodness! I am moving to Rome!!!!!!!!It is the most beautiful, gritty, real, gorgeous, fantastic, rich, city I have ever been in. Today... I stood beside the grave of Raphael, the reliquery of Saint Agnes, and stood beside the Altar of Saint Katherine of Sienna. I have seen beautiful artwork, beatiful churches, drank wine, ate good food, and tomorrow I go to the Abby at Monte Cassino... AAAAAHHH!!!! I AM SO EXCITED I HAVE TO WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS!

Okay now that that is over... let's talk about poverty. At the entrance to every church there is a poor or disabled person begging for alms. They are in the square... they are everywhere. Meanwhile the police take posts outside every ATM machine to protect against theives... So here is the question... Why in the center of one of the most powerful churches in the world, is noone doing anything about the theives and the poverty? Why is it that tourists are picking up the slack of feeding the hungry when the church is not?

So I need to move here with my methodist sensibilities... I need to start a mission here... or... I need to pray that someone will take on the mission here... because as much as I want to move to Rome... it is not my calling to start a mission here... however, I am going to find some missions here in Rome to contribute to...

Live From Rome III

So I got sick today... bad things were happening is about as far as I will go to describe it. The food here is great... but not in reverse. Anyway, I'm fine now except when I was sleeping off the effects of sickness earlier today I made it hard to sleep now... it is three AM here in Italy.

Tomorrow, or is it today, I am going into the city. The friend I was going to go with had to back out suddenly so I will be going with another group of folks. A poet and his wife actually. We will all be traveling into the city to see several of the sites. I hope the cappella sistina will be among them... but the wait can be as long as three hours so at this point it looks doubtful.

So here is emergency alternate plan B... I will save every red cent and and come back here again with a friend... and I will take a Michelangelo Tour of Italy... I'd go to Florence, the chapel, the Musea De Vaticano... I'll visit anything Michelangelo. Who among my many readers would like to come with me? (Please note that I am completely serious so if you say yes plan on saving up for the trip as well.)

Anyway, I've gotten some really great pictures that I will post to my blog as soon as Isaac shows me how. The food here is fantastic... I am thinking about buying an Authentic Italian Cookbook so that I can make real italian food at home... Every night we have wine with dinner... but the wine isn't very good so I usually drink water. (Before you contact the Ethos Committee please note that I have graduated and drink no more than one glass which I sip all throughout the meal. Because it is not very good wine I never have a second glass and I don't think I'll be having another glass with dinner anyway. I think I'll have to wait to have good wine at Christmas.)

Today's talks were about the mission of the Benedictine Oblate... and wouldn't you know it this is where we disagree. They talked about the importance of interreligious dialogue and how we oblates are called to have a hand in that... however, as much as I appreciate Intereligious Dialogue I would not go so far as to say other religions are right... headed toward the same truth or some such nonsense. I of course advocate respect and dialogue, but am not blind to our differences. So I guess in that way I differ from many here in the congress.

One more thing... my roomate Anthony is from Trinidad and Tabago... he is really cool! More on him later!

Live From Rome II

Well, here I am in Rome again writing to you about everything that is going on here at the Salesinium. This morning the congress discussed "Oblation as Family Communion" where we discussed how the loving family has been appointed by God to be Salvivic. That through Christ's eartly ministry, and now in the church the family can be a herald of salvation.

Beyond that, I have a friend who will be traveling into the city with me on Friday to go and see the sights... including my blessed Sistine Chapel. O Lord, let them be open!!!

Anyway, much love from Rome. Continue to pray me through friends...

Michelangelo

Live fromRome

Hey everyone, I am writing to you from Rome. While i have been away Isaac has been working on my blog. He's done a great job huh?

So here I am writing to you from Rome where even the keyboards are different. I have learned the meaning of jet lag... and am suddenly thankful for the reformation. Having a great time... but sadly, I might not be able to see the Sistine Chapel as planned.

Michael

Almost Time...

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The New Harry Potter IPod

Okay, I know I already have an IPod and that I probably don't need two but Apple just announced that they were selling a New Harry Potter Special Edition IPod with all six of the books downloaded into it... oh help me I want one I want one I want one... The back of the IPod is embossed with the Hogwarts Crest. SIGH... Now all I have to do is justify the purchase and scrounge up the money...

Hmm... I am going to Rome soon... Maybe I can sell indulgences! I'll say a prayer for you in Vatican City and you can commit the sin of your choice. Going rate: $50.00 per sin. (No COD's)

Which Saint are you?

You are Julian of Norwich! It's all about God, to
you. You're convinced that the world has a
happy ending. Everyone else is convinced that
you're a closet hippie, but you love them
anyway.


Which Saint Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Storm Paths

Charity Hospital in New Orleans saw the darkness of the human heart, as a sniper fired upon the sick fleeing the rising flood waters. The heart of darkness, the hand of the evil one, the result of sin seen both in the presence of illness and the presence of terror. Marti Gra like madness in real life, the crazed debauchery of attempted murder. The sick and innocent --as always-- the first victims.

Slowly methodically the storm of sin rages a path through the human heart as people loot and steal televisions when they have no power with which to watch them. An unknown fear as the French Quarter may never be seen again. These days we have seen the storm of sin rage a path through the human heart. Natural disaster brought out the darkness of the stained human soul.

Storms move fast and interact and there is a God whose path is dark on the wings of a storm, a different storm developing. This, stripped naked by the evil, beat bloody with the irrational, hands empty with the poverty, arms outstretched with the hungry, died with the empty... God. Gathering his people to forge a storm path of righteousness through the ravaged south.

The sound of his lightning proclaiming this is not a moment to ruminate on death and air, but to proclaim in the storms wake, the soft miracle of the spring rain.

All About My Trip to Rome

So, many of the readers of this Blog already know that on September 18-26th I will be headed to Rome to take part in a week long Oblate World Congress (www.oblatesworldcongress.com).

However for those of you who don't. I am a lay affilate (oblate) of a Methodist-Benedictine Monastery called Saint Brigid of Kildare Monastery in Minnesota. I have traveled there every summer for retreats, pray for my brother and sister oblates as well as take part in Spiritual Formation Groups.

Anyway, Benedictine Monasteries around the world were chosen by lottery to send one Oblate Delegate to this special conference in Rome. My monastery was chosen, and then they chose to send me to the conference.

I have my ticket, have started gathering together the supplies I'll need, am having my license renewed with my new address, and am preparing to leave. While I am at the conference, there is also a change that we will be given an audience with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

I am however, nervous and filled with a bit of trepidation. I have never attempted international travel nor have I ever flown for 14 hours. Also, on my way home I have a 13 hour layover in London... fun huh... except for the fact that it is in the middle of the night. 8:00pm - 9:45am. Can you imagine?

I just keep thinking, I wish I had someone to go along with me... oddly enough, though I have been given an all expense paid trip to Rome... it is scary to attempt on my own.

Beneath the Surface, Something Shines

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, and empty darkness covered the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters… And God said, let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness and he called the light day, and the darkness night. And their was evening and there was morning the first day.

We worship a God of order and light. A God who sees through darkness, through brokenness and despair, a God who creates, and restores.

Have you ever thought about the fact that the goodness of our God is known even in the darkest depths of our oceans. Far beneath the surface, in places where the water is cold and the light never reaches, even there God’s goodness is seen. There are creatures and plants even in the deepest darkest part of the earth that possess the ability to shine and glow with their own rare luminescence. Somewhere beneath the surface of our deepest oceans even there, something shines…

So too are we, mired in the dark cold depths of sin… and yet under the surface, something in who we are shines forward. Beneath the surface of our lives, something shines… the glorious truth that we were created by God, and God considered us worth dying for.

Impression - A Slam Poem

Sometimes I sit on the roof of my house and read the kind of books that get you noticed. Sometimes I go to coffee shops and peer over the words of the page and watch people, and wonder who they are, and who their friends are while I sit, hating coffee and loving blueberry scones. I wish Orange Julius would become the coffee shop of our age.

I remember reading an old tattered copy of Wuthering Heights on a plane so that people would think I was intellegent, and interesting to talk to. Sometimes I sit and look at the books on my shelves and am proud of their diversity and number. I love to go to bookstores and look through the classics section so I seem well read but I never read cookbooks in public because I have a weight problem and it makes me look bad, like the only thing i am interested in is where and how to get more food. Books have a way of making an impression, a way of telling a story about the reader and I do read.

And what I read says that I hope for a spooky supernatural kind of love like Heathcliff and Catherine and that I dream of Gatsby's Green Lights and Ash Heaps. The books I read say that I have stood on Boo Radley's front porch and looked around at a place where, "I would be but little happy if I could say how much." I have seen the Phenomenal Woman, stood in the city by the sea, wept over the desolation that I found there, and I reached far in the distance Olympian Glory that Hercules saw when his labors were done.

You see, books have a way of making an impression, a way of telling a story about the reader.

Music - A Poetic Essayish Kind of Thing

Years ago, before the Wesley's and the Gospel hymns... the church sang only the Psalter. In lilting, haunting, melodies they sang out old Hebrew woe, and exaltation. It was the kind of music that made you ache inside, and beg for more of God...

The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want... He maketh me to lie down in green pastures... He leads me beside the still waters...

Fannie Crosby, Charles Wesley, Isasc Watts brought us the wonder of hymnody, story songs that connected the lives of Christians to the stories of Scripture. They painted word images powerful in the imagination, and just a lucid as any painted image. It was the kind of music that made you ache inside, and beg for more of God...

O Sacred Head now wounded, by grief and shame bowed down... now scornfully surrounded... with thorns, thy only crown...

This only recently gave way towards a new movement of music, scaled down from the orchestration of the past, simple ideas strung together with fearless devotion. These modern Psalms of Ascent mark a new journey for Christian persons. The kind of music that makes you ache inside, and beg for more of God...

Indescribable, uncontainable, you placed the stars in the sky and you call them by name, you are amazing God! All powerful, untameable, awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim, you are are amazing God...

Sadly however, you are forced to choose one or the other. You can have only one. God's people, are simply not creative enough to imagine both a guitar, an organ, and the schola in the same room. It must be one of the other... choose you this day...

A Budded Cross

So now that I am all moved into a new parsonage. I have created a prayer room and I bought a large cross for the wall. Oddly enough in my search for this cross I came across several that I didn't really want. Then, as I was looking through several wrought iron crosses, they suddenly all fell off the wall and behind them was the perfect cross I wanted. I took it home, and put it on the wall, and it was perfect...

In my reflections on this new cross since then I have realized that it is a particularly powerful symbol for this time of life. I used to have a cross on my bookbag when I first arrived at seminary. The cross on my bookbag was called a "Budded Cross" and it actually represents Christian immaturity, the tree before it is budded.

This new cross that found me... is made up of carved twined leaves and flowers. It is more than a tree that is budded, but a tree that is growing... and I am humbled... I wonder if I want to paint it... Make it an even more living symbol... Hmmmm...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

So, I finished it last night... all 652 pages...

It was beautiful, sweet, exciting, funny, brilliant, and terribly, terribly, sad. Truly among the best in the series. THANK YOU JK ROWLING!

I cannot say much more as I will not want to spoil the wonders for others who might wish to read. Instead, I will simply say that, part of the reason that I love the characters in these books so much is that, I realized they remind me of persons in my life.

I can't wait for the next book.

God Smack Greeting Cards - Greeting Cards from God

(Because I thought it would be a funny idea I started coming up with Greeting Cards from God. Thank you Jeana for the inspiration)

Cover -
In this time of sorrow just remember...
Inside -
It's all your own fault. How many ways do I have to say it? "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery"

Cover -
Happy Birthday
Inside-
By the way, everyone knows you are lying about your age... especially me. So stop it.

Cover -
Congratulations!
Inside-
I have never seen anyone climb the ladder as fast as you have... so... why don't you tell me how disappointed are you now that you're at the top? Maybe I can help.

Cover -
Merry Christmas!
Inside -
I'm in the manger... not the shopping mall.

Cover -
Congratulations on your Confirmation
Inside -
I guess I won't be seeing you in church anymore?

Cover -
Happy Wedding Day!
Inside -
If you spend half as much time on the marriage as you did on the wedding you'll be okay...

Cover -
Happy Forth of July!
Inside -
By the way, just so you know... I care about the other countries too...

A Rant Against the Church Corporate

Okay, so this one is a long time coming. I think if I had time I would create a conference built around the ideas that I am about to present to you. You see, I am sick to death of watching the church recreate God into a corporate image. We streamline him, we make him safe, accessable, and in many ways, the church has decided to act as his publicist, or campaign manager rather than pilgrims on an unsafe journey.

Consider for a moment the fact the people such as Joel Olsteens of the world who package God as though he were the first bright hope of self-actualization. According to his Billboards his church will help you "Release Your Inner Champion." Excuse me Joel, but last time I checked my inner champion looks out for his own perverse desires and to hell with God and everyone else. If I could do it on my own, as you so wickedly propose to our "be all you can be" culture, I would not need God to be my champion.

Look even futher however, at how we dress ourselves. In order to be cool and clever we take corporate logos and rework them with cute little christian messages for our t-shirts. In doing so, we adopt the ethos of the corporations whose symbols we are STEALING and are therefore now only on the earth to sell our religious product and make money. Our God technology that works for you is now proudly displayed to a culture that is saturated with advertising images to the point that we barely notice them anymore.

Meanwhile, Christian music, art, poetry, books, and any other form of cultural expression are sorrowfully following corporate trends. Boybands in fashion? Try the Christian Alternative. Grunge? Try the Christian alternative. It just a bit blander than the original.

Long ago artists and musicians like Bach and Michelangelo found thier own voice and spoke with it. God wanted to create something with them, not lead them copy someone else.

The church that allows itself to be tempted into the evil of the corporate businesslike, technological "Gospel Product" is in danger of losing it's soul to the powers of the world.

Widgets - I have to beat JD to the punch...

So I just had my computer updated... and let me tell you OS X Tiger is really really cool. The coolest new feature are this little devices called "Widgets!" They are little icons that give you information. I even downloaded one that will give me the song lyrics of whatever CD is in my diskdrive or whatever song I am playing on iTunes. Rock on!

This brings me to my point for the day and I think Bill Gates is not going to like me. Apple is tremendosly better than PC. It looks cooler, it has cooler features... Apple is the best computer ever.

I wish PC people knew the joy they are missing out on with their clumsy huge boxes of a computer. I mean think about it people. The very look of the computer says something about it. "Look, I'm a gray box.... A great big, hulking gray box that takes up alot of space at your desk. Aren't I boring... linear, modular, manufactured. I have no idea what style or imagination are... I am just one great big hulking calculator!"

Apples on the other hand are desinged, beautiful, portable, and livable. They practically breathe.

So PC people... turn away from your darkness and into the calm soothing light of the Apple!!!

Tin Lizzy Gift Shop - A poemling

Across the sky I see letters proclaiming
"ANGELS ANGELS ANGELS"
And I wish to myself that there would be angels around me
And that I could see them and have a conversation
And talk about God and Saints, sanctuary and pierced sides.

I wish that we laugh and sing and fly together
And that they would bless this flat vast farmland that is my hope and home.
Blessing it that I too may be blessed because from this land was I grown.

But no sooner am I lost in dreams of flatlands, blessings and curses then
The writing changes and I am suddenly pulled from my all things celestine:

"ELVIS STATUES HALF-OFF"

I guess that makes me a pastor...

In the past week I have gone from two to seventeen keys on my keychain. I have moved into a huge parsonage, and preached my first Sunday in church... I guess that means I'm a pastor.

My first Sunday went just fine... I got up at 6:00 was in church by 7:00, in my robes by eight... to serve at 9:30. I guess you might say I was a little high strung and nervous.

So I guess now I'm a pastor. Oddly enough I feel completely uncomfortable with the idea... which tells me I am ready to be a pastor.

When I began seminary back in 2001 I was completely confident. I was sure I could be a pastor with little to no trouble. Now I recognize that I cannot do my job. I am what God wants me to be... pliable in his hands, helpless, in need of his strength and wisdom to complete even the smallest of tasks. It is in this state of utter abandon that I feel like everything is going to be okay. It is like the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer in many ways... the Lord has many services to be done and I am open to them all. Whatever should happen, so long as God is my father it is all going to be alright.