FINAL REFLECTION FROM MY TIME SPENT WITH THE SIMPLE WAY

I am now back home in Silver Spring.  However, I do have one last reflection from the week that I wrote this morning before leaving Kensington, Philadelphia that I wanted to share.

Well, I am back from Morning Prayer and just about packed up and ready to hit the road.  Again, I can’t wait to see Helene, but I am also sad to leave.  I prayed for the children on Potter street at prayer this morning—I still can’t get out of my head the image from sitting on the porch at the Hospitality House last night.  To give you a better image Potter Street forms a T with H Street and the Hospitality House sits on H Street facing Potter. Looking down Potter Street and seeing all the kids playing—some were riding bikes, some throwing a football and others just talking—all of them in peaceful community with each other.  These children are the future of this neighborhood and there is such promise for them.  My prayer, again uttered here, is that this future is what God wants it to be!

A RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION: WHY DON’T CHRISTIANS JUST DO THE THINGS THEY PRAY FOR?

For the past two weeks I have been part of a Facebook thread with a friend of mine who I deeply respect, but who has quite a bit of enmity for religion and, for pretty good reasons, Christianity in particular.  One question/issue that has been raised more than once in the thread is that prayer is pointless and rather than praying for things why don’t Christians just do the things they pray for.

This is a really good point/question.  If all of our effort for change is exclusively limited to prayer I honestly believe our lives are not what Christ calls them to be.  Moreover, if our prayers are centered on some friend becoming a Christian because we are unwilling to accept them where they are then this is not only an insult toward that friend, but it is an insult to God and it shows judgment rather than love.

On the other hand, prayer helps me to know and accept that I am not capable of affecting change in the world by myself.  Prayer screams out “I need help, the world needs help, I want to see the world a better place, but I am completely incapable of doing this on my own.”  Also, I shudder to think of the big head that I would have if I were capable of affecting positive change on my own—prayer keeps me humble; it keeps me grounded; it helps me to know that I am not God.

THOUGHTS ON LISTENING TO GOD

Just got back from morning prayer.  I really only thought I would do this the first day of the week—because I normally hate getting up before 8:00 in the morning.  Something draws me back each day though.  The five minutes of silence each morning is difficult…well I could just sit there and let the time go by without caring about making it count.  However, trying to make this time meaningful takes effort.  That is quite a paradox; it takes effort to put forth no effort.  To be still and know that God is God, to say the very least, is something that I struggle with.  However, these five minutes the past three mornings have been good.  So often our prayers are words: words of adoration; words of confession; words of thanksgiving; words of supplication.  It seems so rare, for me at least, to sit and try to listen.  Listening for the voice of God is something I need to do more of!

SOME THOUGHTS ON COMMUNITY

I am not sure if I will have access to the internet tomorrow so I thought I would post today’s reflection while I have the chance.

I essentially had three reasons for wanting to come to the Simple Way this week.  The first was to serve, the second was to learn and the third was to reflect on my relationship with my creator.   Last night I was talking with my wife on the phone about the whole idea and concept of community and what that exactly means.  It is a word and concept that I have been trying to get my mind around for several years.  I think the more technologically advanced we get as a society the more difficult it is build community.  I truly believe that there is a right way and a wrong way to do community.  However, community is going to look different depending upon the context that it is in.  To give a few examples: Community in the Kensington section of Philadelphia where I am staying this week, which happens to be in the inner-city is going to look different than community in pick any agricultural region of the Midwest. 

An African Village, Suburbia USA, a monastery, prison, white collar work places, blue collar work places, being part of sports team, travelling the same train or bus or even carpooling every day—this list could go on—all provide opportunities for community.  Yet how community in each one of those contexts plays out is going to look different from the other.  My biggest struggle is that I have this desire to have one mold for community that fits all of these contexts.  It is hard to swallow the fact that there is not one mold.  Knowing that in each one of the contexts that I am involved in there is a different paradigm for community is overwhelming to me. 

Getting back to the complications technology throws at us, the newest contexts of Facebook, E-mail, Twitter et al continue to me being overwhelmed! 

The suburbs is one of the contexts in which I live.  I have lived in my current location for more than two years.  I know the names of three neighbors, Christian, Patricia and Rose. I have had three conversations with Christian and six or seven with Patricia and other than introducing myself to Rose have had no interaction with her.  I believe part of the reason for this is the context of the subarbs.  People find a location where they want to live for any number or reasons.  Ours happens to be because of its proximity to work and for my wife the Sligo Creek Trail where she likes to run.  Most often, I believe these reasons are not because you share interests or passions with those you will live next to.  However, I believe the bigger part of the problem with lacking community with my “neighbors” is because I don’t have a clue how to pursue it.  Or maybe even worse and this relates to yesterday’s reflection—I do know and this is just another instance of me refusing to embrace discomfort.

I  would love comments here or on my Facebook Page on how you create community in your contexts!

SOME THOUGHTS ON COMFORT

So, I have been pretty idle with blog posts recently.  However, I am up in Philly for the week spending time with The Simple Way.  I am here to serve, learn and reflect.  I could not help but think that my blog would be a good place to share any reflections that I might have here.

This is from yesterday:

What does it mean to be comfortable?  Should we pursue comfort?  I cannot help but think of Pastor Mark encouraging us to worship in a new way…a way that makes us uncomfortable.  The more I grow the more I realize the need to embrace being uncomfortable.  Of course being uncomfortable should never be an end in itself.  Wearing a hair-shirt for the sole reason of being uncomfortable is pointless.  However, introducing yourself to your neighbor can be uncomfortable, but it expresses the love of God.  Offering to buy a homeless person dinner and sitting and sharing the meal with them can be awkward but both parties will walk away richer from the experience.  Attending a religious service different from your own may not be that fun and you may feel entirely out of place.  But what does it say to those there that you decided to break out of the cultural walls that normally confine you and how can you not be richer and have a deeper understanding of those that are different from us?…in fact how we will ever make inroads toward peace and reconciliation without doing things that violate our comfort?  If we want to grow our decisions should more often choose discomfort over comfort!