What's This Thing Called Grace?

I enjoy conversations that range wide and go deep -- the ones that make me think and push me to accurate articulation. A while back, I was in the midst of just such a conversation when my friend asked me to define grace. Right then. Right there. On the spur of the moment define "grace" -- a concept that took John Wesley pages and pages and sermons and sermons to articulate. So without Harvey's "Handbook of Theological Terms," without Wesley's Complete Sermons, without the New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, I tried to define grace, to distill into a few words the essence of this concept that is foundational and transformational to faith and life. What I came out with is that grace is "unmerited mercy imbued with a genuine compassionate concern for the other's well-being." This definition sums up my experience of grace. I have been recipient of unmerited mercy from God and from people. God's grace saves me; and humbles me; and empowers me. The grace I have experienced from other people fills me with gratitude. Our common task is to find ways to extend grace to one another and to our world.

Creativity in the Moment

When I first started preaching, I would write out a manuscript every week. I would carefully figure out how I wanted to say things, I would tweak a phrase just right and it would be a finely crafted sermon. Then I was appointed as an associate pastor for 2/3 of my appointment working with Cole. Now, I was fresh out of seminary and about a foot and a half shorter than Cole. Well, Cole never used even a note, much less a manuscript when he preached. He would walk out of the pulpit and just start preaching. It quickly became clear to me, that if I wanted to even hold my own with that congregation, I was going to have to preach without notes. So that's what I started doing. Truth be told, I have a bit of a competitive streak that got tapped into. The surprising thing for me, is that I found preaching without notes enabled me to connect more fully with the congregation. For years now, this is how I have preached -- doing all the preparation ahead, letting it incubate and then on Sunday morning, preaching. Recently in reflecting on the process of preaching and how I go about this weekly task, I realized that this way of preaching takes the creative aspect of preaching right into the worship time and moment. When I prepared a manuscript for a sermon, the creative aspect of preaching happened when I was alone with pen and paper or keyboard and screen and what I did in worship was a presentation of something that had been created earlier. When I preach without notes, the creative moment and presentation moment and the hearing moment are all one and the same. The congregation becomes the context where the sermon creation takes place. So, I do not have files of old sermons to pull out and present again. Each sermon is an "in the moment" experience. It means that each sermon is a fleeting thing -- a creation for a particular time and place. Sometimes I feel a tinge of regret that I do not have a written record of this life's work, but most times I feel a certain sense of contentment and appropriateness that each sermon is for a moment -- created in worship and set free.

Where Did May Go?

Well I knew that May was kind of a crazy month and that it had been a while since I had posted any musings on this blog, even so, I was surprised to realize it has been almost a month since I had a new posting here! The poll about the ballpark foods was prompted by my attending a Nationals baseball game at their new stadium. Now, mind you, I am not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination, but when a free ticket came my way to go to the game with a good friend, I went. It was actually a beautiful spring day and I learned that good company can make even a baseball game enjoyable. We joked that day that it would probably be six years or more before I ever got back to the Nationals stadium. Oddly enough, I was back at the stadium for ANOTHER Nationals game in just 3 weeks! Again, a free ticket and good company. Now the second game was on an evening when it was unseasonably cold -- so that night, my favorite ballpark treats were the coffee and the hot chocolate! Chilli seemed popular, too, with the folks sitting around me. The Nationals won the first game I attended, and they lost the second. Readers of this blog, are any of you baseball fans?

In Memoriam

Panda

May 1996 - May 2008

I am a bit sad tonight. On Sunday evening, my little dog, Panda died -- age finally catching up with her. She was a good dog and a companion that could always make me smile. One of my favorite sounds in all the world were her little snores as I drifted into sleep. Here is a poem I wrote about "The Princess" (a well earned nickname) a few years ago:

Ode to Panda

Lonely rooms are enlivened by

the fur ball with feet

She greets me at the door

tail sashaying, eagerly prancing

Her canine grin calls forth

my answering smile

Certain of her inalienable right

Her imperious paw lays claim

to my attention and lap

Her gentle snores blanket the

long night with comfort

We share space, breathe the

same air

Always, she lingers near

Close at hand

Closer yet to heart

Spring Is In the Air

Spring is in the air. Your opportunity to indicate what you like best about spring on the little poll I have going, is about to expire. So far, it seems that more people like flowers blooming and trees budding best of all. This photo is one I particularly enjoy. My father took it last spring at the Botanical Gardens in Baton Rouge. My favorite flowers bloom in spring -- daffodils. My heart delights in their cheerful bright yellow color against earthy green stems. After a long gray winter it is a feast for the eyes to see all the vivid colors of spring. And you? What is your favorite flower and why? Post a comment, let me know!

Honoring, Remembering

April is National Crime Victims Memorial month. For those who have lost loved ones through violence, a time designated for remembering can be important and a reassurance that the broader community acknowledges that grief is never completely swept away by the passage of time. For a while now I have been wondering what it is about April in particular that makes it rife with tragic events -- isn't mid to late April when so many violent tragedies have struck? The bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, the stand off in Waco at the David Karesh compound, Columbine, Virginia Tech?? Why? Why this time? If you have any ideas, post a comment. If there is anyone you would like to remember during this National Crime Victims Memorial month, list their name in a comment.

The Lingering Hours

Some of my fondest memories are of times spent around a table, sipping coffee, losing track of time in the midst of good company and conversation. The tables may be different, the faces change from time to time, but there is a universal quality to the time -- lingering hours -- where we pause, where we stay present, where we listen and share new stories and old tales, philosophical speculations and only-in-that-moment humor. In the lingering hours tasks are laid aside, agendas lost, and watches forgotten. Such times open up the possibility for rising to numinousness, when all present are fully present in the moment, attentive, engaged, open, free, connected one with all present, all with each one present. This is communion through and true. Cherish lingering hours.