Thursday, November 8, 2012

A needed perspective from the Church Fathers

I am reading this daily devotional that has short readings from the church fathers called "Drinking from the Hidden Fountain."    It is so good.  I personally don't have anything to add on the election but as I have seen comment after comment for the past months, I thought that this devotional was such a great perspective.  A huge challenge to me.

Christians in the World Are What the Soul Is in the Body

Christians are not distinguishable from other people either by nationality or by language or by the clothes they wear.  Either way of life has nothing peculiar about it. They conform to local customs, but they show how extraordinary and paradoxical the laws of their spiritual state are.

They live each in his own country, but as a foreigner.  They fulfill all their civic duties, but as foreigners.  Every foreign country is to them the home country and every home country is to them a foreign country.  They live in the flesh but not according to the flesh.  They spend their lives on earth but they are citizens of heaven.

They love everyone and everyone persecutes them. Misunderstood, they are condemned and put to death, but in such a way that they attain life.

They are poor and make many others rich.  They are deprived of everything and have a superabundance of everything.  Despised, they find in this contempt their glory.   While they do nothing but good, they are punished as offenders. When they are punished, they taste the joy of those who are born to life.

To sum up, what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world. 

Letter to Diognetus 5,Iff. (SC33, 63ff.)


An Amazing Story at a KU Game

This is one of my all-time favorite memories as a sports fan.  It was winter of the 1996-1997 basketball season.  At that time, I was a junior in college and Tabor was at the start of a special season.  Tabor was coming off a season where they went to Nationals, and now with a experienced senior class, they were ready for this season.  The year before they had played a game at Washburn in Topeka and a school in another division. They weren't ready for that game. But now in this year, Washburn was returning to Hillsboro to play this Tabor team.  Home games at Tabor were an experience. The gym is filled with the smells, sounds, and atmosphere of small gym that reminds you of the movie Hoosiers.  The pep band is loud and plays spirited music as they players warm up.  The old Mennonite Greys that love following sports are busy talking and eating their pop-corn. Then there is the student section that is right on the floor, excited, ready to yell at their team, yell at the refs and opposing players.

This is the setting as Washburn comes to town ranked #2 in NCAA division 2.  I don't remember much from that game other than Tabor was in it and were able to pull out the victory.  That was amazing in itself, but what I remember from that game was this.  Washburn was coached by Bob Chipman, a fiery and great coach, who now has 600 career wins.  When it was clear Tabor was going to win, the student section first started out with the "overrated" chant.  Then at some point Coach Chipman received a technical and walked back to the locker room. He wasn't ejected but decided to wait out the rest of the game in the locker room in protest.  As he walked, the student section yelled, "left, right, left right, left right," to match his every step.  It was classic.  (One side note, I may or may not have been leading this chants)  As he was headed to the locker room in full rage and living up to the moment, he rips off his sport jacket and throws it on the court and leaves.  It was so Bobby Knight like.  A classic moment.  Tabor won the game and we got the coached mad.   The memory still makes me smile although I rarely think about it.   Washburn hasn't returned to Tabor for a game and probably won't ever. 

So on Monday night, Ethan and I went to the KU - Washburn game.  Washburn is still coached by Bob Chipman and they are still highly ranked but now playing at KU.  On the drive, I thought of this memory and texted Bruce and Travis Jost (the twinners) who were seniors on that team and say, "Hey I think I should go up to Coach Chipman and say, here is your jacket from 17 years ago from the Mennonite Dungeon" (what I often referred to Tabor's gym as).  They both loved it and shared that laugh and memory.

As Ethan and go to our seats, high up at Allen Fieldhouse, we found ourselves sitting by a couple of older Jayhawk fans who have been coming to games for years. One was celebrating his 75th birthday.  They loved it that Ethan was attending his first game. Throughout the first half we shared different KU stories and gave each other high fives. It made the whole experience great for Ethan.  In the middle of the 2nd half, I shared my memory of the Washburn coach from that night at Tabor.  Right as I finished saying and the refs gave him a T and he threw his jacked, the guy sitting by Ethan looked at me and said, "I was reffing that game."   I said "no way, Are you serious".  then he said that one of the other refs was down there reffing in the game we were watching.   so we shared our memories from that night.  He remembered the Jost twins and reffing many games at Tabor, but he especially remembered that night.

Seriously, what are the odds of that happening.  17 years later that I am at some random KU game sitting amongst 16,000 people and I just happen to share that story and the guy next to me was reffing the game. Who knows what that happened but it makes for a great story and a reminder of a fun time in my life when I was a little more passionate about sports that I am now. (at least a little).

 I e-mailed this blog to Bruce and Trav before posting and here was Bruce's memories from that game.





I love the Menno dungeon tag. CRAZY that you were sitting next to the guy that reffed that game. Excellent story. Hall of Fame fans…Matt Penner first time ballot. The best folks, the best.




Random memories for me:


  • They had Scot Pollard’s brother on the Washburn team. All 7 ft of him. As he walked into the lobby of our gym he said “Is this the middle school gym?”

  • They had Dan Bouie who at one point tried to make it at USC. That guy was athletic as can be, a beast but needed some focus to be great.

  • Larry Farmer a Highland Park product just thunder dunked one at the student section basket. I was across the lane and almost challenged him but my leg was hurting so bad from the oncoming stress fracture I couldn’t muster the power to get up there. That could have been a big time poster as he was lanky and could leap but man did I want to compete with him on that one just could not get there.

  • As we line up for a free throw an announcement comes over the PA system about there being the SAB activity of roller skating. John Sweet, talented guard from Highland Park who was known to have a little swagger looks around the lane and says to us Tabor prudes “You all going roller skatin’ tonight”. Hilarious. Apparently that was not the kind of activity happening on Washburn’s campus. Here’s to small town Christian education. And you know that skate party was packed out!
 


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

A weekend with Monks

I have experienced the Lord and being with the people of God in a lot of different places, countries, and cultures.  A small church in some obscure town in Tunisia, the villages of Guatemala, a small group on a farm in remote Indonesia, with the homeless in Los Angeles, in the mountains of Peru, and now this past weekend with monks at a monastery in the Ozarks in Eastern Oklahoma.


I went with a group of 5 guys; I only know one of them well. All of us have an interest in the ancient church and learning the rhythms of those who have walked with the Lord for many years.  My friend Brandon heard of Clearcreek Monastery and that is where we made our pilgrimage.  The monks are Benedictine and follow the Benedictine rule that was formed in the 500's A.D.  You can read about that rule here.  They pray through the whole Psalter each week. They start with prayer at 5:15 each morning and have 8 or so daily offices which include a low mass which is done silently and the high mass.  Besides the times of prayer, they also spend each day studying and working.  Their schedule is set for them every day and they do this day after day, year after year.  It is a commitment for their lifetime, although they can leave. 

All of the prayers are done in Latin and they also use Gregorian Chants. It is very beautiful.  They do welcome guests and we were able to sit in the back and participate in the prayers. There were books that had Latin and English so we could see what they were saying.

Often, we would do a prayer time, have a short break and then join them for the next prayer time. We also got to eat our meals with them which were done in silence. That took us awhile to get the hang of, as Brandon and I were talking a little too much in the first breakfast and one of the monks had to remind us that it needed to be silent.  Their meals are very simple and they eat a lot of hardy bread. They grow their own vegetables and try to be as self-sufficient as they can.  Breakfast was in total silence and the monks stand while they eat.  But during lunch and dinner, they do some prayers and then have a reading from the Scriptures, or church history, or another book.  At times it was hard for us to keep a straight face as the readings seemed funny done in a Gregorian chant.  

For me, the best thing was the silence and a lack of distractions. No internet, no sports, no pressures from ministry, just time to focus on the Lord.  I had to work hard at keeping my mind focused, but every time my mind wandered, I would focus my thoughts back on God. During the prayer times, you are either standing up or sitting down, or bowing down so there is enough engagement to keep you focused.

As evangelicals we can learn from the rigors of these monks.  Our American spirituality is so individualistic and self-centered.  It is all about our own quiet time.  We seldom do something similar to another believer unless we are going through some book that our church selects. But the monks pray the same prayers and read the same Scriptures daily.  There is nothing individualistic about it.  It was refreshing to witness it and experience it for a weekend.   The value is on the shared experience rather that what I personally get out of it.

As I continually grow in my walk with Christ, I am drawn to the ancient streams, to the daily rhythms done by Christians for centuries. I have such a long way to go, so rather than reading the latest book or the latest spiritual nugget that is being offered, I am choosing to learn from the saints who have lived centuries ago and followed Jesus in a deep way.



Thursday, November 1, 2012

All Saints Day - St. Demetrios

Today Christians all over the world celebrate All Saints Day for those that follow the Western Calendar.  This day took on even deeper meaning for me after the passing of my brother 4 years ago.  It is a special day to reflect on all of those who have gone before us.  Loved ones that we remember, but then Saints who were the true heroes of our faith.  
Last week, I learned about St. Demetrios and was moved by his story. Tonight as a family, I read this story and we talked about his life. It moves me to have boldness and courage to stand up for Christ no matter what my circumstances may be or whatever opposition we face. 
 
http://www.hmog.org/family/saints/saint_demetrios.htm
 
Family - St. Demetrios

[St. Demetrios]

Saintly Lives: St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki
(Commemorated on October 26th)

There is a reason the life of St. Demetrios is such a well-known, and often-recounted story—his life was one of great faith, courage, and loyalty, even in the most dire circumstances. He was born in Thessaloniki in 270 A.D., and though he was from a wealthy, privileged family, he possessed a profound sense of humility, even from his youth.

As a young man, he entered the Roman Army, where he quickly rose in the ranks and became a successful officer. However, he was, in his own heart and mind, a soldier of God first, and a soldier of Caesar second. He spent much of his time within the ranks preaching the Gospel of our Lord, telling his brothers the good news of the Resurrection, of all that Jesus Christ did for us. Eventually, though, his fame won him the attention of the Emperor Maximian. When St. Demetrios was called before the emperor to recant his faith, he did not fold or give in. Even though it would have been very easy to deny his faith and get himself out of a very, very dangerous situation, he remained, brave and faithful to His Lord. He told the pagan emperor, “Only in Christ do I believe.”

Now more furious than ever, Maximian had St. Demetrios thrown into prison. He was brutally tortured, but still would not crack, still remained faithful. A younger disciple of his, Nestoras, also exhibited much faith and loyalty, coming to visit his teacher and mentor often in prison—again, even though by doing so, Nestoras was engulfing himself in a dangerous situation. On one visit, Nestoras expressed a desire to fight in the name of the Christian faith at an upcoming gladiatorial battle, and he asked for the blessing of St. Demetrios.

Nestoras received the blessing of St. Demetrios and was instructed to fight not for personal glory, but for the glory of God alone. This would surely protect and keep him. Amazingly, Nestoras—who was small of stature, not muscular, and not a skilled fighter—handily defeated the best of the pagan gladiators, a giant known as Leo or Laios. During the battle, Demetrios cried out and prayed for victory in the name of Christ and for the glory of God. And Nestoras found victory because of his own great faith and Christian bravely—and because of the great prayers and supplications of his friend and spiritual advisor, St. Demetrios.


The emperor, insane with anger over this embarrassment, ordered Nestoras beheaded, and on October 26th, 306, St. Demetrios was brutally executed with a spear.


The disciples of St. Demetrios buried him at the spot of his martyrdom, in commemoration of his faith and courage in the worst of circumstances; later, the Church proclaimed him “Mirovlitis,” the “Myrrh Gusher,” because the of the fragrant scent that constantly emanated from his tomb. And this beloved saint is still, to this day, inspiring the lives of Orthodox Christians across the globe with his personal saga of courage, faith, and Christian friendship—all in the face of certain death. May his very real and inspired story be eternal in our hearts and minds, now and always. Amen.