Rufus M. Worships Well

Our family recently got a dog. My three daughters have never had a pet before, so you can imagine the attention this little scruffy guy gets in our home. Someone is always ready to brush, hug, snuggle, feed a doggy treat, dote, or oooh and ahhhh over him. The girls fight over loving him, in fact.
Rufus M. is well-loved by all standards.

When he joined our family a month ago, Rufus M. attached himself to the leader of his new pack-- me. I'm his Alpha dog. I show him where to potty, when to eat, what furniture he can nap on, and where we're going to take our daily walk. He looks to me to help him understand and navigate his new environment. But I appear to mean more to him than a mere guidance counselor or food provider. My children are capable enough to lead him on walks, they fill his food bowl, they brush him and play toys with him: all (easily) 10X more frequently than I do every day. And yet, when I enter the room, Rufus M. is bounding away from whichever forlorn daughter of mine was mid-belly-rub with him and adopting his position right by my side.

The Alpha dog is the center of Rufus M.'s universe. The Alpha dog is where, for Rufus, meaning is found. The Alpha dog is his anchor.


I love this picture of worship found in the book of John:

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

John 6:67-69

To whom shall we go?

Where else is meaning found? Where else can we hear and taste the words of life?

Are we not already at the center of the universe? Why then should we leave? What's better out there than this?

In his book, The Cost of Discipleschip, Dietrich Bonhoeffer discusses following Christ for the benefits of being a Christian rather than following Christ for Christ. One is false worship, the other represents a true worshiper's heart. Do we claim the name of Christ because we want to get to heaven? Because we enjoy the Church so much? Do we pursue Jesus because we desire more grace and mercy? Is it the clean living and the feelings of righteousness that drive us in our faith journey?

Of course none of those are offensive by any means, but what if those things were not a part of the Christian's "package deal"? Thinking of Rufus M.; is he constantly beside me solely for a scrap of bacon and fresh water in his bowl, or is there a deeper need inside him for a connection with his "source"?

Would we still be following Christ if the only incentive was Christ alone?

It's a sobering thought that can help me align my focus to worshiping the only thing, person and future that deserves it. Christ the Anchor, the Center, the Meaning.

I agree with Simon Peter, to whom shall I go?

Artuality: The Table of Grace

Each month, L'Chaim hosts a blog carnival in which participants celebrate the varied forms of art and the ways it inspires our lives. The theme for Artuality in February is furniture.

I am attracted to furniture because of the stories I imagine behind the pieces. How was it made? Where did the materials come from? Who made it? Was it a rugged cotton farmer making a primitive stool for his son to sit on and whittle by the fire after chores? Was it a highly-trained furniture maker tooling a cabriole legged chair with velvet upholstry and claw-and-ball feet for a wealthy British family? Did it sell for millions of dollars at Sotheby's last auction? Did a bunch of neighborhood kids find it in a chicken coop and heft it up to their tree house to store their treasures?
I just love to imagine who and where it came from... and who and where it's going to.

My mother owned a small antique shop when I was in junior high and there were few places I'd rather be on a weekend than milling around the antique mall while she worked, looking over strange and wonderful remnants of days gone by. My teenage-girl bedroom was outfitted in primitive antiques. I felt so comfortable there.


Here are my inspirational pieces of furniture for February:
About 3 years ago some neighbors of my parents were moving and trying to find homes for their unneeded furniture. Our family was the blessed recipient of a complete set- dining room table, 6 chairs, a sideboard and hutch, and a china cabinet.

Free furniture that is in gorgeous shape, with a beautiful finish, and is large enough for our family and several friends... and... did I mention it was completely free?
Sounds like grace.

I thank my God for those kind neighbors every time I enjoy dinner with my family at this table, or see the kids fetching their crayons and Playdoh out of the sideboard, or dusting Granny's thimble collection in the china cabinet. Every time we add another leaf to the table to make ready for a feast with friends, I recall the grace that was bestowed on us in this gift.

We barely knew those neighbors of my parents. There certainly wasn't anything we'd done to deserve their dining room set.
Grace.

Doing schoolwork at the table of grace

Artuality: The Truman Show

Heather at L'Chaim has started a new monthly feature. We'll call it a participatory feature, because it's all about art and spirituality- called Artuality. Neither art nor spirituality are intended to be in a vacuum, so Heather has invited the world to join her each month in sharing how art and spirituality intersect in their own lives.

November's theme is: FILM. (Please consider this your invitation to join the discussion.)


I don't know if there is such a thing as a Christian existentialist movie, but if there is, The Truman Show must be it.

Poking at questions such as: "Who am I? What's my purpose on earth? Who's in control when things seem to go wrong? Why are can lights falling from the sky in front of me?" You know, those elemental questions we all ponder in the dead of night when we can't sleep. ;)

Who has not wondered if the world as we know it is simply our imagination, a fabrication by a benevolent (or malevolent, depending on how you're feeling that day!) higher being, or if we are maybe just dolls in a dollhouse here for the enjoyment of a giant child.

I think The Truman Show raises some interesting questions about the Christian journey in particular. The main character, Truman, has been rescued from an orphan life in order to become the star of a 24/7 live television show, aptly named, The Truman Show. Thousands of cameras are trained on every moment of Truman's tranquil and near-perfect life. His steps have been ordered for him. His environment carefully planned. Every interaction with his wife, neighbors and co-workers is scripted, with commercial spots cleverly inserted in the conversation at periodic intervals. Only Truman thinks it's all real. He's the only one who doesn't know that his life is a television show.
Strange things begin to occur, however, and Truman is getting suspicious. Stage lighting falls from the sky into his front yard. His dead father- whose character was killed off when Truman was younger because the director thought it made an interesting plot twist- makes a surprise visit to the set and rocks Truman's world. Truman innocently veers off the script (throwing the entire directing crew into "catastrophe mode") and discovers theatrical props instead of working elevators, office buildings and surgical equipment. The never-met-before haz-mat crew on the other side of the island somehow know Truman's name like they're old buddies.

Truman ain't no dummy. Perfection is becoming suspect.


When I became a Christian, I was rescued from an orphan life, and I was under something of the same belief as Truman. In fact, I think I even desired a life like Truman's. I wanted Christ to script my life; to make the birds sing on cue, to have traffic part like the Red Sea so I could get to work on time, to keep me from all discomfort and pain. If it required that I have the occasionally quirky conversation about the features of the latest devotional guide or contemporary Christian facial tissue that was a price I was willing to pay for convenience. Just please make it all perky and pristine, Jesus. That's what you're about anyway, right? Bringing love and bunnies to the world. Right???

Imagine my disappointment when the spiritual stage lighting crashed down in front of me. When my spiritual journey included traffic jams and grouchy neighbors with their grouchy dogs. Imagine my chagrin when Jesus didn't deliver me from the ugly and the tainted and the treacherous that is in this world. Imagine my shock when I discovered that he was not the least bit interested in scripting the perfect Christian life for me.

Imagine my distress upon reading Christ's own words, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

But Jesus, I thought you wanted to make the kingdom of heaven come for me NOW. No bunnies? No 72.4 degree sunshine-y days? Are you saying I'm blessed through persecution? I don't see how blessing and persecution can be used in the same sentence... blessing is defined as tulips and birdies. Isn't it???


He's not here to replace my spiritual weeds with Astroturf, He is here to be the Loving Gardener. There are weeds and brambles. Bare patches and dirty spots. Poison ivy, even. Some weeds stay and some get yanked. They like to grow up while my back is turned. It's not pretty, it's not cozy, it's not neat and tidy. Christ is interested in loving me through the fallen-ness of this world.

Perish the day that I'd think Christ came to make my life like Truman's.

Art and Theology: The Marriage

This semester I'm teaching a class on the Role of Women in Ministry. We explore women's history, the hard-to-understand Bible verses about women, first-century culture, and other highly controversial subjects.

Every time I teach this class, I require my students to visit Dallas's Women's Museum. And then we discuss it.

During this year's discussion one student in particular shared about a powerful revelation he'd had via the art.

On the top floor of the museum was an gallery with all items priced. Sales benefited research for a women's disease--I think it was breast or ovarian cancer. At any rate, this student told about how one painting caught his eye. He said it was of an old, wrinkled woman. Her top was exposed, but according to him it was not at all sexual or provocative. She also had her arms up as if in celebration. And he marveled that this old, wrinkled woman stood celebrating the wonder of her body.

The student went on to say it made him realize for the first time how much women must feel pressure to be young and beautiful, and how much confidence it must take to overcome such thinking to see beauty in the majesty of the God-created human body, whether or not it looks like [insert name of movie start you consider gorgeous].

I loved the intersection of art and theology in that encounter.

Has art made you consider spiritual thoughts or illuminated some truth for you? Tell us about it by leaving a comment.

SoulPerSuit Colossians Study

SoulPerSuit is presently hosting a group going through the book of Colossians.
Sandi shared this great clip with me last week and I think it's a great piece to share with the entire group. And the world, at large.
Be amazed by it. Be blessed by it.

Louie Giglio- Laminin (approx. 9 mins.)

New Church Part 3

Part 1, Part 2

Everyone Is Involved In Service

I had a distinct idea of what service would look like for our group. As we discussed our passions and explored the areas of service we'd been involved with in the past, a mystical, divine common element would arise. There would be a pentecostal moment when we all looked at each other and knew how to join forces for a common goal and move united to make an impact on the community.

Of course, this has never happened.

In fact I almost felt like the idea of service was being avoided. I was beginning to wonder if my group was not serious about putting soles to souls.

I don't know what changed during the last meeting. As individuals, were we suddenly in cosmic alignment? Or we were all just getting it?

Week after week, we share about the people we encounter, the worship experiences we have at unexpected moments, and our intense desire to make our faith count. Because we pursue our passions on a daily basis, I realized that we are serving wherever we are with whomever we met. Our “community of service” includes pre-school children and their parents, helping neighbors, making other people successful in their pursuits, the elderly, co-workers, being a great friend, and teaching. This is a beautiful way to serve community. 

I am overwhelmed at the capacity of love in my group. 

What day in and day out moments of service do you participate in?

Have you ever had such preconceived notions about the way things should look that you completely missed what was in front of you?

Part 3.1

New Church Part 2

Part 1, Part 3

The first time I wrote to you about our new church was last year in May. I think it's time for a little update on what we've been up to.

From my perspective, it didn't seem like we were making any strides. I'd envisioned us doing some sort of service in the community but we've never come together in agreement on anything. I thought that we'd find a common passion that we could explore and claim as our own like prayer or Bible study. Our membership has also dropped. I claim that's not a sign that things are going wrong but that things are going exactly right. But you tend to see affirmation in what you're doing by seeing others clamoring to join you. No one's clamoring.

I was slightly disheartened by all this until last week's meeting.

It was like any other meeting. Currently we're discussing Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. This is sort of a biography of one guys spiritual journey and ruminations. It evaluates the idea of God, faith, and responsibility from various perspectives in spiritual growth. It asks all the hard questions that our group really relishes chewing on.

Last Friday we discussed chapters nine through twelve. A couple of days later, MyGeek asked me what I thought about the discussion. As we talked about it I realized we, as a group, had come to some solid observations in that meeting. Theories or suppositions, if you will. And it wasn't the result of the one meeting but of weeks and weeks of discussion - discussions that have included Velvet Elvis, Premium Roast with Ruth, Espresso with Esther, Mocha on the Mount, and countless on-line resources. As we've considered several view points, our lives, our culture, and the Word, we're forming our own observations about church in the postmodern culture.

It's sort of thrilling to think about, really. We've got our own little think tank going on. It's like discussions that might have gone on between C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the other members of the Inklings on pub night or the students in the mountain community, L’Abri, founded by Francis Schaeffer in the 70s.

Well, sort of.

In future "New Church" posts, I'll talk more about our observations, such as:

As a group

• Everyone is involved in service.
• We are doing what we're passionate about.

Think Tank Observations:

• Church is not in one place.
• Stories are not in one person
• We are finding unusual, unexpected moments of worship
• Everyone has a story

Are you involved in a discussion group or think tank? What have you observed?

Engage the Senses

If anybody can sniff out a good article, Kelley Mathews can. She sent us a link to this piece by Lauren Winner on connecting smell with doctrine: i.e., aromatheology. Check it out.