Marcus. May You Rest in Light Perpetual

          This past Sunday, I was saddened to learn the biblical scholar and theologian, Marcus Borg, had recently passed away. There are not many things that can get me out of my house on a very, very cold winter's evening, but several years ago the opportunity to go hear Marcus speak did just that. I was not disappointed. The timing was perfect. I was in my second year of EFM and up to my ears in reading about Paul's letters to the churches. Along came Marcus Borg with the invitation to take a closer look at the historical Jesus, to look past the words and into the historical context of his life and times.

          To say that Marcus Borg was a liberal theologian is to put it mildly. Born a Lutheran, he gravitated to the Episcopal faith. He taught, he wrote some 20 books, he lectured across the country and in the UK. He believed Jesus was a Jewish prophet who was a product of the times, not the divine Son of God. Marcus Borg questioned not only the validity of the many miracles Jesus worked, but also Christ's resurrection. He wrote, "Imagine that Christianity is about loving God. Imagine its not about the self and its concerns, about "What's in it for me", whether that be a blessed afterlife or prosperity in this life." He pondered, what if life is not about being a Christian but about loving God? Yet, even with his liberal views, Borg collaborated with N.T. Wright, whose theological views are conservative in nature and other less liberal thinking biblical scholars.

          My simple theology of Christianity clashes with Borg's in many respects. But, his writings continue to make me think and ponder. His commentary on the Book of Revelation helped me make sense of that book of the New Testament that so often causes fear and trepidation rather than showing a glimpse of God's heavenly kingdom.

          May you rest in the holy perpetual light of God, Marcus Borg. Thank you for urging me to think and take into consideration the daily life and times in which Jesus lived. You shall certainly be missed.

         

Ordinary Time

     I love this time of year.   In the church we call it ordinary time.  Together we have been through the grand days of Christmas, celebrating the incarnation.  What a glorious thing that God became a human being.  Sometimes I take this being human for granted.  I don’t see the beauty and significance of it.

    These ordinary days following Christmas and the Epiphany allow us to sink into all that has happened.  We can now settle and enjoy this almost unbelievable gift that Christmas has brought.  It reminds me of the days after Christmas as a child.  Those days after all of the big celebrations, allowed me to breathe, look around, and enjoy the gifts I had received.

     Centering Prayer is a practice that helps me to realize the gift of my humanity.  Sitting in silence, uttering a sacred word, I am allowed to see the many distractions that I live with daily.  Most of my time is so on task that I don’t hear the inner chatter.  Thomas Keating calls that chatter our patterns.  Most of those patterns have become ingrained since childhood.  Some of those patterns may concern not being good enough, competition and worry.  When I begin to die to the chatter, I awaken to the ordinary.

     Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town elevates the ordinary in a scene where Emily who has recently died longs to revisit one of those plain old days.  She is granted her request, “I didn’t realize all that was going on and we never noticed… to clocks ticking, and Mama’s sunflowers.  And food and coffee.  And new ironed dresses and hot baths… and sleeping and waking up.  Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you.”

    My prayer is that we do not let life slip through our fingers without knowing and experiencing what a gift this being human is.  There are many spiritual practices which can help us to live in the abundance that we were promised.  Centering Prayer is just one of them.  I invite you to try this practice if you have never tried it.  If you tried it a long time ago, maybe it is time to try it again.  A new group is starting in February at 7:00 AM on Tuesday mornings, led by Dr. Gary Stewart, Beth Prewitt and me.  There is another group that meets at 5:00 Wednesday afternoons.

     What a joy it is to live with you in this community where we actively wrestle with who we are, dying from all that keeps us from that, and discovering our unity with God and one another.  

Overcoming the Odds

I am a big Ohio State fan. Even though I didn’t go to Ohio State, I grew up with my family always cheering for the Scarlet and Gray. This coming Monday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks will go head to head to pursue the title of National Champions 2015. It is an honor for a team to make it to this game, but it requires so much work and determination to get there.

The Buckeyes have not had the season they thought they would. Granted, they did want to get to the National Championship game (who doesn’t?), but their hopes were dashed just 12 days before the beginning of the season. Their Heisman candidate quarterback, Braxton Miller, re-injured his shoulder and was declared out for the season. The Buckeyes would have to use their second string, freshman, non-experienced quarterback, JT Barrett, for the season. The season got off to a rough start with a tough loss at the home opener. For the next several games, the young team struggled as they learned to work with each other. However, the team managed to keep pulling out wins, and with each week, kept improving, moving back up in the polls. By November, rumors started to circulate that they might have a shot to get into the playoffs. In the final game of the regular season, the Buckeyes lost JT Barrett to a leg injury. All hopes were dashed once again to be in the playoffs. Not only did the Buckeyes lose their first quarterback, they lost their second quarterback. And, in the midst of all of that, the team also lost a teammate in a tragic passing. They had only one week to recover and prepare for the conference championship game. What team could do that and pull through the adversity?

The Buckeyes won the Big Ten Championship, propelling them into the #4 slot of the playoffs. Number one Alabama Crimson Tide was a huge opponent to face in the first round of the playoffs; no one thought the Buckeyes could beat them, except for those who had faith in the team that had been built over the season, the team that had overcome all of the obstacles. They beat Alabama, and they now have a chance to win the National Championship title. They do have another big opponent to face, and it will be tough to win, but I am not going to say it can’t be done. It is an obstacle to overcome, and they have proven they can overcome adversity. Why not once more?

So, why should we care about the Buckeyes’s season and what they have accomplished? What does that have to do with life? It is just sports! It is, but I feel that what the Buckeyes have done this season is a great example of how to overcome the odds, to throw down any hardship that you are facing and say, “No, this shall not overtake me.”

In our lives, we find ourselves facing adversity nearly everyday. No matter how small or big it is, we all have some obstacle in our lives that has to be overcome. Sometimes we wish it would just go away or we could try taking the easier path. However, we should never let the obstacles we face take us down and defeat us. We have a greater Strength that can help us conquer them. Jesus is always there to help us face those obstacles, struggles, addictions, choices, pain, hurt, and fear. He helps us conquer those opponents, and we can overcome those because He has overcome the world. He wants us to lean on Him to move ahead and move beyond those things that trouble us.

With 2015 stretching out before us, why not laugh in the face of adversity this year? Be an overcomer. If you are holding onto something or are too scared to face the mountain in front of you or are too tired to climb it to see the top, reach out to Jesus and ask for His strength, His endurance, His wisdom, and His comfort. See what He does with it, how He helps you through it, and He will get you to the other side.