Author: phil.farmer@gmail.com

We live in the electronic world of auto-renewals. For this site, as an example, I just had to update the payment source. No big deal, we are all familiar with the process and this site will continue be around. But this got me to thinking, is our faith on auto renewal as well?

If we just keep tithing will the Church just keep renewing our membership? If we just keep going to church and saying our prayers will God “renew” our membership? Has our faith become so easy that we just expect it to automatically renew?

It is far to easy to take our faith for granted and expect it to just renew on its own. An entire denomination did this very thing, just kept auto-renewing and it led to the very painful process called disaffiliation. And I have watched good people get terribly hurt by the results.

Today was a “wake-up” call for me to get my account up to date. These days for that denomination are the wake up call to get things updated. The call to be awake, aware, and active. I have come to see and believe that these wake up calls are a necessary blessing.

Starting today The Messy Mystic is renewed. Perhaps today we should all update our information and be renewed. No, I don’t think the Sacred needs our updated credit card information. I do think she needs our updated faith and commitment to being who we are called to be in Christ. So what do you say? Will you renew your faith?

TMM

Our world today is anything but peaceful. Wars rage, politics are cut throat, and even individuals are angry over small disagreements. It would seem to be a lost world, but it isn’t a lost world. It is the world as it has always been, a place of clashes of power, with the least fortunate suffering the most.

As a contemplative my call is to another path. It isn’t an easy path but then the path of peace never is, just ask Jesus. In scary times we are called to the narrow path of peace. As Sr. Joan Chittister points out…”truth is that only one thing can really bring peace: the commitment not to destroy other people’s sense of self, of dignity, of value in the name of truth.”

We must wake up. If we choose the name of Christian then we must get on or return to the path of peace. We must be brave enough to not demand our own way and to seek peace with those who may need it the most. Even with those who do not see their own need for peace.

This path is narrow and difficult because we must maintain our own interior peace while others would take it from us. We must be that voice of peace and dignity and worth for those who have lost their voices or who have never had a voice.

TMM

As a contemplative person, I am called to be in the world. That means being in the moment with the world and with others and it is a struggle. Over the past few years and due to a variety of reasons I have just felt down.

it dawned on me why a few days ago. I am feeling the world’s pain. No I am not someone special but I am truly a contemplative person. That means to fully engage with the world. But it also means I have to choose my response to the world. In a book by Matthew Kelly, I have reminders that telly me I can choose how I see events and that I can turn them into Holy Moments.

it is not our choice as to what happens in the world. It is our choice as to how we respond. I am thinking that I can be a better person by using love as my filter. I cannot fix this world but I can choose how to see it and deal with it. I think that means that I will look for hope in the face of pain and fear. I will choose my response and not let the world tell me what will feel.

TMM

The messy mystic was a conscious and intentional choice. Messy because, well, I just am. Mystic because I believe we are all created for mysticism. And that mysticism is not secret or magic. It is an attitude toward life and towards God.

The mystery, to me, is that the Creator of All wants to have a relationship with me! Like most people, it is easier to see and find the good in others than in myself. I occasionally ask my university students to make 2 lists, one of all of the negatives about themselves and one of all of the pluses.

The goal of such an exercise is to teach them about using a person’s strengths to help them through the tough times. In the exercise it is easy for the students to list their faults. It takes much longer for them to list their positives and the list is much shorter. This is because we live in a world that teaches us we must always strive to be better.

What would your life (and mine) be if we just decided we are good enough just as we are? Right now? This moment? Well the Holy truth is this….we are good enough just as we are! That is grace. The God gift of unmerited love . The gift that never ends. I believe that we are not born into sin but into eternal grace.

TMM

There is a quote often attributed to the old pitcher Satchel Paige: “sometimes I sits and think and sometimes I just sit.” This is foreign to our current culture. We have to be doing something. Our value is in what we do.

I am a lay monastic and when I visit the Abbey the one thing I never see is a monk in a hurry. I am pretty sure that a “hurrying monk” just doesn’t exist. And that is not so much a rule as it is a choice for the monks. And yet each has work to do. A monastery doesn’t run itself.

To truly be a monk, St. Benedict said that they have to earn their own way. Every Abbey produces something: jelly, fudge, honey, or even caskets. So work matters but doesn’t define the monk. They pray at my Abbey seven times per day but that is not all that they do. They cook, pray, and study as well.

And yet not one of those activities defines those monks. They simply are monks. The secret, as I see it, is living in the moment and being fully present to each moment. Now, that sounds easy but it takes a lifetime to learn how. And, the monks do not live in a world that is full of hurry.

We live in a hurrying world and we usually hurry with it. What if we just quit hurrying? Instead, what if we become deliberate, focused, and fully present to each moment? Perhaps we would just Be.

Being sounds calm, slow, and well, special. I think I will continue to just be….me.

TMM

Have you ever arrived at a starting point and wondered which direction you should go? In Celtic spirituality, these are called thresholds. Over my years of life, I have stood on more than a few of them. Each time, it has been a bit frightening and a bit exhilarating. Where will that next step take you? Will you like the trip? Will the destination be a good one?

We all have these points in life and if we are wise, we pay close attention to them. Most folks, though, do not really notice. They are often comfortable with where they are and do not seek to move to another level or another place. I wonder who gets to step into the threshold if I don’t? If you don’t? There will always be another, that is for sure and if you are like me, when I saw that other move forward it made me a bit sad. What was I thinking? Why didn’t I take that opportunity?

I learned long ago not to fret over where I did or did not go, where I did or did not cross the threshold. You see, I believe the Divine has many thresholds for each of us and we get to choose. That is the way of things in life, to get to choose. It is only when we turn these thresholds into have-to or musts that we begin to experience regret or even shame. Maybe it is time to let go of those. Maybe it is okay to just be where you are.

We live in a ” what have you done lately” world that is lying to us. We are allowed just to be. We do not have to do “one more better”. Heck, we don’t really have to do anything. But the world around us cannot settle for that. That world sees us for what we have or have not done, not who we are, who we are created to be. And, we buy into it. What would happen at the next dinner party, when you are asked what you do for a living if you just answered, “I live”?

Go ahead, I dare you to answer that way. It will most assuredly start a conversation. It might wake a few people up. It will always stop people short. And yet, as Christians, we are called to be. We are not called to do. We get to live out who we are and report only to the Sacred, the one who created us. I believe that is what Jesus was all about, just being himself. I believe he calls us to that as well.

TMM

Have you ever been called? You know, when you were a kid and mom or dad called you to come home? You really didn’t linger long, you just went on home. You had no idea what you were being called to except to home. Could be it was dinner time. Could be there was bad weather coming. Could be there was news, good or bad. Whatever the outcome, we just went home…or at least I did.

Is being called by God the same? I think so. God calls us in God’s good time, not in our good time. It can be for “dinner”, you know something to feed our soul. It can be for wonderful or wonderous news, you know, like you got a new job, a new relationship, or a new duty. It can be tough, like learning of the death of your granddaughter, a spouse, a brother, a sister, a parent, or a good friend. The call can be to new duties for the Kingdom.

Whatever the call, we are asked to be ready when called. Jesus tells the story of the bridal party. You know, the one with the lamps and lamp oil. Half were ready with extra oil, so they could answer the call and half were not ready. This parable is not so much about planning ahead as it is about understanding the kingdom of God. We are always on God’s time and since we are not privy to that timeless timeframe, we have to live life ready. For the bridesmaids, it was about remembering that we are in God’s time, not our own. Half were ready, they know that God might have other plans.

Aren’t, we the ones called to the kingdom? Aren’t we the ones who listen for that “still small voice”? Aren’t we the ones who are supposed to prepare for the kingdom?….by always having enough oil in reserve to light the way? And how do we have enough oil on hand? We have habits like prayer, worship, Lectio Divina, meditation, and living in a community. We never just do it all alone, on our own. Keep enough oil in reserve to light your way. Keep good spiritual habits. We are called to let our “lights shine” so that means enough oil on hand for the long term, you know until the bridegroom gets here.

TMM

Most people know that the United Methodist Church is in turmoil. Most are not aware of why. The accusation is that it is against the Bible to be LBGTQ and be a minister, and that “these people ” while welcome to come to church are not welcome to participate in all parts of Methodist life. They can be celibate and be pastors but cannot be in a loving relationship.

The worn out phrase “hate the sin, love the sinner” is cruel, unChristian, and narrow minded. Being LBGTQ is how a person is born. It is not a choice. Who, in their right mind would choose to live as an oppressed outcast?

This is not about LBGTQ, it is about power, control, and of course money. It always is. But Wesley had this beautiful idea that in community we could change the world for the Kingdom of God. Apparently that doesn’t matter to a growing number of people.

Here is the not well know part of my life. My grandfather, who I never knew, was Methodist; my 100 year old aunt is a Methodist; all of my cousins on that side are Methodist; and, my late brother was a Methodist all of his adult life. So, yes this matters to me.

What breaks my heart is that “how is it with your spirit? “, the question we are to ask each other daily no longer matters. When did we quit caring ?

TMM

From the very beginning the Christian life has been lived in community. These days that is much harder in a culture that prides itself on “rugged individualism”. A pastor friend ends every sermon with “we’re gonna need each other this week”.

These current times make community even more difficult. We are at a place where we can no longer disagree and still speak to each other. Our society now acts like if we disagree you are the enemy. How can we live together this way?

In my own denomination we can no longer seem to allow others to have their own beliefs. Now, if you don’t believe as I do then you are wrong and not godly. I am struggling to find the living Christ in any of this. I have church members who believe the Bible to be literally true and do not tolerate disagreement.

The love and life of Christ is no longer the standard. Instead it is the book. Once that happens, then the issue is control and power. Whose Bible and which translation? I have not been at this stage of the Christian life in many years. The kind of thinking that says inerrancy is the rule is the same thinking that used scripture to justify slavery, to justify women not preaching, and to keep our LBGTQ brothers and sisters out of the church. This latter group are dying by their own hands because they feel totally alone.

I don’t recall Jesus telling the woman “taken in adultery” that just as soon as she got herself straightened up she could come back and be loved and forgiven. I believe that what Jesus did in the middle of that crowd of men was he wrote with his finger in the dirt “I love you ” to that woman over and over again. That put an end to the discussion.

I pray that we can stop fighting and blaming and hating and simply write “I love you” to each other… over and over again.

TMM

We are all created to be in a community with others. Many consider the Trinity to be our first and best example of community. It came to mind this morning while I was reading Psalm 12 how else that might be helpful.

If you are like me, you have read the Psalms many times. A minister friend once said that the Psalms about “I’m happy, I’m sad, or I’m angry” and if you read from a literal point of view, the psalms can be pretty depressing or irritating. If you read from the view of the writing expressing the human emotions of those living in community, then it makes more sense.

At face value, the writer of the Psalm is saying how badly he is being treated and then asking God to vindicate him and destroy the enemy. But, what if there is a different way to view this? What if the battle is within us? What if the enemy is within? As Pogo said, “we have met the enemy and he is us”. That is a better description of what the Psalm and most of them are about, the voice of the human viewpoint being expressed and then begging God to help.

The beautiful 23rd Psalm reads a little differently if we see the “enemy” and the “want” as our own ego that wants us to go our own way. A table set in from of my “enemies” can now be seen as me recognizing that being at the table with myself and then having God anoint my head with oil for choosing to follow God, not my own will. So many other Psalms now make sense in this context. The Psalms express the heart of the Nation of Israel, the community and when they are read in this way, they start to make even more sense.

Our ego is “the enemy” and maybe we should remember that we are anointed with oil (meaning the presence of the Holy Spirit) in the presence of our “enemies” which can be a society in general. Now if I public say that I am for God and act like it, is that not doing things God’s way?

TMM