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Pilgrimage is one of my new passions.  It first got my attention when I read a book by Paul Boers — The Way is Made by Walking.  It was his reflections on walking the 500 mile Camino De Santiago route in Spain.  When I read it, I heard the urge to go for a long walk.

Boers defines pilgrimage as “religiously motivated travel for the purpose of meeting and experiencing God with hopes of being shaped and changed by the encounter.”  This was my hope this summer as I set off for Melrose, Scotland with my daughter.  Our 65 mile walk took us through many villages, past castles and abbeys.  We began and ended on two of the most famous Celtic thin places (places where it seems the phyical and spiritual worlds are closer and there is a history of interaction with God in those places).  I did not know what to expect from a thin place.  Would I hear a voice?  Would I get ideas that I had not before known?  The answer is I experienced a deep emotional openness and peace.  The night before we started our walk, we were in Melrose whose abbey was just a few feet away from our bed and breakfast.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a longing to return to a place that I had not yet left.  As I read my journal now, the question I had then was “Is this what the relationship God has called me to?  Nothing spectacular, simply a place to sit and rest?

For me, the pilgrimage is a place to find healing in the ordinary.  I can do nothing each day but put one foot in front of the other until I finish my days task.  I cannot change my circumstance only contiue on as the path leads me.   Each day I am given resurrection as my sleep turns my tiredness and brokenness into strength for another day.  I started our journey with a deep sadness and a hope for an encounter.  I ended with healing and peace.  The encounter was not spectacular or awe inspiring.  It was a stillness that came from the walk.  I continue each day to yearn for my next walk and just maybe another day in Melrose.

Where are you going?  What do you wish to encounter?  What adventure would bring you peace? Have you taken a pilgrimage? What is it about this experience that grips my heart and changes me?

“One year into my position as president of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), I am more convinced than ever of this biblical principle: doing big things for a big God is merely the accumulation of little things done for people.  I have seen firsthand the big things we are doing in partnership with the Hindustani Covenant Church among sex-trade workers in India. But it comes down to people who are willing to babysit the children of prostitutes while their mothers work in new alternate employment. . .  I have seen firsthand the great relief it is to families to know their adult handicapped children or siblings are in a caring, professional setting in our network of group homes known as Covenant Enabling Residences. But know it comes down in certain cases to staff members who change adult diapers for those who cannot care for themselves.” – Gary Walter, President of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC)

I don’t know about you, but I certainly have the great ability to overcomplicate things at times and, as a result, miss the point in certain areas of life.  Following Christ and living as His body through the Church is no exception.  Words such as compassion, mercy, justice, and missions have a sweet ring to them, but is it possible that we are thinking and talking about them more than actually living in them daily?

Before I go any further, I need to give a brief disclaimer: I am not a church pimp for the ECC!  It is also not my desire to make an attempt to get as many folks as possible to jump on over to the Covenant.  However, I am grateful to be a part of what God is doing through this body of believers.

Having said that, I invite you to read the words of Gary Walter cited above once more and then really pray and meditate on them.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe that God calls His people at times to do some pretty wild stuff on some pretty large scales.  However, is it possible that we have made the call to live missionally more romantic and grandiose than it really is at times?

Maybe God will call you to something HUGE in the future, but in the mean time, what are some “little things” that could be done today for people in your world in the name of Jesus Christ?  Once again, isn’t it funny how the paradox of God’s kingdom works in that often times the things we deem as small and insignificant are the very things that Christ uses to do big work in people’s lives?

“In the same way the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs.  If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.”  –  C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

At the end of last week, eight American missionaries were released from Haiti after having been detained on kidnapping charges for nearly three weeks.

In case you haven’t heard the story, a group of Christian missionaries traveled to Haiti after the January 12th earthquake devestated the area, with the mission of rescuing Haitian children by exporting them to the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic where their plan was to establish an orphanage for children of the earthquake. When these missionaries attempted to export 33 children without going through the proper channels, the local Haitian government arrested the group on charges of kidnapping.

Now, much can be debated as to the effectiveness of the Haitian nation and it’s government; their policies, economic conditions and solvency, standards, integrity and methods. Instead, what I’d like to consider are the actions of the missionaries. First, however, I would like to make one thing clear; I am not passing judgment on any individuals or the motives of this collective missionary group. I assume their intentions were sincere and genuine. Who wouldn’t want to help lost and frightened children?

My questions center around the methods employed by this group. Maybe they will eventually share their insights in retrospect of their actions. For now I can’t help but ask, were they right in what they were trying to do? Were they right in how they tried to do it? Did they intend to march into a foreign country, disobey all laws and establish their own rules in the name of Jesus? Does Jesus give us that authority? What does the non-Christian world see in the actions of this group? Should that even have been a consideration? Should the local government of the poorest nation in the western hemisphere trump Jesus? Was Jesus truly represented in the actions of these missionaries? What guidance can we find in Scripture about the intentions vs. the actions of this likely well-meaning group? Is it possible that religious arrogance got in the way of compassion? Have you ever struggled with finding balance in doing what you feel God calling you to do when it meant potentially crossing other established boundaries? I’ll say this, and then I’d like your opinion. One thing I know for sure is that it’s easy to take a side either way and determine right from wrong from our reclining chair. If I think in terms of my experience as a father, I know I would do just about anything to preserve the safety and dignity of my children. Is that God-given authority or is it something else? Is that how God feels about us? I know the Bible has account after account of God allowing humankind to suffer the consequences of our own mistakes (sometimes assimilated with the wrath of God). Consequences are real. What does any of this mean?

I know, I know, too many questions, but isn’t that where we often find ourselves… right in the middle of too many questions without enough answers? Okay, for the sake of simplification, I’ll whittle it all down to this one question:  As Christians, what are our rules of engagement as we fight for justice in a diverse world so sharply divided by competing rules, laws, ethics and morals? Your turn… ready, go.

It took five hours to make the trip from Tulsa, OK to Glen Rose, TX.  The museum is an under-funded converted barn, with only one exhibit that seemed unique or treasured.  The museum was established on the site of the discovery of a fossilized human foot-print that had been slightly blemished by the print of a dinosaur’s paw.  This exhibit is presented as a proof that man and dinosaurs coexisted in the same time in human history instead of being separated by at least 500 million years as the natural evolutionist claim.

Personally, I have long believed that the earth is only thousands of years old.  I have held this believe as a non-essential of my faith.  I have enjoyed learning scientific research that confirms what I believe to be the “Biblical record of creation.”  On the other-hand, I have never felt defensive of this believe.  I’ve heard others express disdain for my belief (not knowing I held it).  And, I’ve heard some express disdain for those who oppose this belief.  I imagine you have too.

Now, I have this opportunity to tell you what hearing my belief extolled, explained, and celebrated means to me.  As the founder of the museum lectured on “the crystalline canopy that was part of the atmosphere of the earth prior to the world-wide flood” I experienced several strong feelings: 1) I felt so loved.  For instance, one of the theories that Dr. Carl Baugh elaborated on was “the song of the morning star” spoken of in Psalms.  Dr. Baugh drew on reports from NASA that detail the different natural radio signals emitted by different planets.  One is described as a series of whistles, another as a deep-throated hum, and another as various sequences of percussions.  Together, the planets create a symphony.  Dr. Baugh claims that the atmosphere of the earth prior to the flood included an electromagnetic field that actually attracted and amplified this symphony and broadcast it to the earth from the sky for an hour or so each day.  2) I felt like my life really matters.  I am not one of thousands or millions of generations upon this earth. I am part of a generation that participates in profound changes such as each generation of the people of God have during this short history of the people of God.  And, 3) I felt excited for the possibility of Jesus’ impending return.  Anticipating a short history of the world creates a profound anticipation that excites and delights me.

I’m not sharing any of this to prove or convince anyone of my belief.  I still do not think it is essential to a faith in Jesus.  I do, however, want to share the feelings such a belief inspires in me.

The 00’s came to a close, so I decided to make a media decade in review list. Here we go with the movies of the decade list. My criteria for this list is less about the technical aspect of the movie and more about the story (which I realize the irony of that statement by placing Avatar and on my 2009 list, so no need to point it out). Did the story tap into some deeper truth about how our world works? Did the story help me realize something about myself or the about our culture? So, this is my personal top ten movies list, not necessarily the movies that I think should be up for the Academy Awards of the decade.

Honorable Mention
Castaway (2000)
The Incredibles (2004)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Once (2007)
Up (2009)

10–Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
9–Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
8–Children of Men (2006)
7–The Dark Knight (2008)
6–Royal Tennebaums (2001)
5–Reign Over Me (2007)
4–About A Boy (2002)
3–Wall-e (2008)
2–Memento (2000)
1–Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

I hope to this point I have gotten many of you to think about service and generosity to the point where you feel overwhelmed. To ask the tough questions like: “How do I do all of this?” “How do I keep my eyes open to see the needs around me and respond?” “Why am I so selfish?” Let me bring some guidance along the way.

The is no doubt each and everyday there are hurts, social injustices, and pain all around us. So how do we really help? We also see catastrophes like Katrina, Haiti, 9/11, and so on. How do we help? Do we get so overwhelmed we don’t do anything? This past Sunday we had a couple of families leaving for Thailand to work with young women in the sex trade industry. There is something that Kelly said that has stuck with me. “What do you burn for?”  She said, “find what you burn for and do it…”

Let me ask you! Do you burn for anything? Something so strong that you would leave everything behind to pursue it?  If not, why not? Do our neighborhoods burn for anything? Do our churches burn for anything? The lost, the poor, the sick, the naked, the hungry? I have a feeling that we all have no idea what we burn for so therefore we throw money at things that come our way, go on mission trips, serve in soup kitchens so that we feel better about ourselves as people and sadly enough as Christians. So instead of serving out of our God given passion and gifts we serve out of duty. So how is that working for you?

If you feel lost in the area of engaging or struggling with your identity and purpose than I ask, “what do you burn for?” If you know than focus on it. Andy Stanley in many of his books says, “do less for more”. If you focus the impact will be greater. Reality is we have so many organizations and ministries that have no clue what God wants them to do so they throw the kitchen sink at it and hope something sticks. Then we sit back and wonder why we are not being effective. I know strongly enough that people don’t want to be involved in something that doesn’t make a difference or is stagnant. If you don’t know what you burn for go out and serve and educate yourself. Find something you believe in and want to impact and go for it.

What do you burn for?

As a teen and until now there was a band that stood out in my catalog, the one I listened to the most, the one I connected to the best…My Favorite band.  Now when I was a teen favorite bands were important, they proved who you were, it was common for someone to ask “What’s your favorite band?” or “Who are you listening to right now?”  As if the answer to those questions would let you deeply understand who I was.  The band for me was Sunny Day Real Estate, and I do believe that most of you probably have no clue who they are.  Well to me they were the world, everything I had ever wanted in music, although the band themselves were deeply unstable, with a few break ups here and there, they were a beacon for me to rely on in the “harsh, dark and cruel world” of high school.  Excuse my cynicism but when I think about it now in retrospect, I find it tremendously comical.  The lead singer of Sunny Day Real Estate’s name is Jeremy Enigk.  He was my role model, he was someone I looked up to without ever meeting him or knowing him deeply.  The only thing I knew deeply was his music and his biography which I had read on the internet.  Enigk found Jesus somewhere around the realease of the band’s second album in 1995.  This caused some drama in the band because Enigk’s vision changed, the band broke up and reunited about 4 times in the next 6 or 7 years, till about 2002 when they said they were done for good.  Fortunately for me I was able to see them when I was 17 in 2000, which was the best show I had seen at that time.

This past year in October of 2009, I had the wonderful opportunity of hearing that Sunny Day was back together again for the millionth time.  At this point in my life I realized that Sunny Day wasn’t what it used to be for me.  I realized that music isn’t what made me who I am, although I did realize this years prior it just hit me hard when I found out Sunny Day was touring again.  Their tour did come through Houston, so I went with my brother in-law and a close friend of mine from Jersey to see the show.  We got there early thinking the show would be jammed packed with people.  There was no one there at all when we got there except Jeremy Enigk by his tour bus smoking a cigarette.  I saw him as I was parking my car and screamed out loud like a little girl.  I parked the car fast and walked fast to the tour bus where he still was by himself smoking a cigarette.  I approached him with a smile and said “I just wanted to say hi and let you know i’m excited to see the show.”  He looked at me a little surprised that I even knew who he was.  He then smiled bashfully and shuck my hand and said “Hello.”  I asked him how long he has been in Houston and he responded by saying he was there all day and he went to a karate school and watched people practice karate through a window.  We took a picture together and then I walked off.  After that experience I realized the man that I considered my role model in my teenage years just talked to me about watching kids do karate.  Was he really my role model?  Or was I just being cool?  I could not figure out why he was a role model besides the fact that he was in my favorite band and he loved Jesus.  Not that he isn’t a good guy because he shares his soul in his music and he is incredibly spiritual and talented, I just realized I didn’t know anything about him personally to really asses why he would by my role model.  I think this happens more often then we think.  Our real role models a lot of times aren’t in our music or movies, but they are in our homes and classrooms.  As cliche and corny as that last sentence sounds, I think it is true, because after 26 years of life I realize that my mother is my role model…she is the person I want to use as model of who I want to become.  Who is your role model?  Is there a famous or not so famous person that you think may be your role model?  Why is this person your role model?  Btw that is a picture of Jeremy Enigk and I in Houston, he was a lot smaller than I expected.

Sunny Day Real Estate albums to Listen to:

Diary

How it feels to be something on (my favorite)

Jeremy Enigk solo albums to listen to:

Return of the Frog Queen

Ok Bear (my favorite, just released last year)

The last few years I have been doing summer mission in Ibiza, Spain.  Ibiza (pronounced Eye-bee-tha) is a small Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain that is often known as the party capital of Europe.  It is an intense environment to show the love of Jesus.  A small team from England decided to move there to help bring peace and love to the island through prayer and mission.  Here is a short video about these guys:  Prayer as Mission

Once while in Ibiza, I encountered a guy named Lee.  He asked me what 24-7 Ibiza was, as I was wearing a 24-7 Ibiza t-shirt.  I told him that it was a Christian organization that focuses on prayer and kindness.  He looked at me in confusion and after a long pause he said, “In Ibiza?  You’ve come to help a bunch of drunk people?  Why?  Why don’t you go to Africa and work in an orphanage?”  Half drunk himself, Lee continued, “People in Ibiza don’t deserve help.  They choose this lifestyle.  Why don’t you go help kids with AIDS?”

I still think about this encounter.  What struck me was how hard it was for Lee to accept that 24-7 Ibiza wanted to help those that “didn’t deserve it.”  He was all right with people receiving help if they warranted it, but not those who chose wrongdoing purposefully.  He was begging to ask these questions, “Is help only for those who deserve it?  Is mercy only for those who warrant it?”

Oftentimes, when you walk someone to their hotel that has had too much to drink in Ibiza, they will offer you money to compensate.  The response is always no.  When they persist and persist, the team will say, “Hasn’t anyone ever done something nice for you without asking for something in return?”  Mercy.  Shown in the simple act of walking somebody home.

“From dust you came, and to dust you shall return.”

Every year for more than a decade now, I have gone to church on Ash Wednesday to have someone say those words to me as they rub ashes on my forehead.  Every year I anticipate what it might feel like to have someone utter, with no apology or explanation, those haunting words to me.  And despite my anticipation, the moment itself is always a little startling.  It seems appropriate that I leave with ashes smeared on my forehead, taking with me a vivid if strange reminder of what I have just heard spoken.

Ash Wednesday service is where we begin our yearly journey into the Passion narrative.  We know that the story culminates with Easter, a grand celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.  But first Lent.  “Like Christ, who spent 40 days in the wilderness praying and fasting before beginning his ministry, we spend the 40 days before Easter considering our lives and our relationship with the world around us” (from 2010 Lenten Meditiations).

It seems appropriate that Daniel M. posted a blog last week dealing with the frustration of our finite nature (Falling Whistles).  We cannot help everyone.  We are overwhelmed by our own limitations.  This is where we begin in our Lenten journey.  And then we say we are sorry for what we have done and what we have left undone.  After that we lift our heads and we say to God, but more to remind ourselves, “You hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent…”

Then we begin our 40 days of examination, and by the end we are walking with Jesus through his sufferings and remembering Christ’s compassion for the suffering.  And by the time we get to Easter … but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.  We’ll talk about that in 40 days.

Ben is in our Certificate in Missional Leadership program.  He is spending a year, getting a grad level education, personal counseling about his place in the world, and is immersed in an east Tulsa community at Garnett Church of Christ.  He has a big project where he is creating opportunities for stories to be told within the congregation, and beyond into the community.  His project is making a contribution to this community- people are connecting, and learning to care better for God’s children.  He’s learning a ton- and making a difference in the process. Here’s his first video.

Food Pantry and Clothing Closet from Ben West on Vimeo.