THE CRAVING

THE CRAVING I crave Advent. Maybe it’s a midlife motivation. Or has this compulsion just gone unnoticed? I think not. More likely I’ve been afraid to admit it. After all it goes against the grain. Waiting that is. No one waits for anything anymore. Life comes to us speedily and the very notion of waiting seems barbaric. Besides, if I embrace Advent I’m sure to isolate myself... retreat from everything. It’s just barbaric. Like the ancients putting their farm tools away as they gave in to the change in seasons as the daylight grew shorter. The sun seemed to be taking leave and these unenlightened ones grew fearful. So they hibernated. They waited. Disengaging themselves , they dared to become self reflective. In the chill of those winter nights, they dared to see themselves and time stood still. They told stories. They waited....expectantly. Craving the light they removed the wheels from their carts, pulled evergreen branches from the trees heavy with snow and festooned the spokes of the wheels with flaming candles. Slowly without anxiety or fear, it dawned upon them as they gazed upon these circles of light that the darkness was dissipating. Hope could be born. And so we come to the first Sunday of Advent in a series of four. In our warm and well lit sanctuaries someone stands and lights an evergreen wheel and in fear and trembling invites us to slow down, to be quiet, to wait. Where are the Christmas carols?, we ask. Advent is viewed as an assault upon Christmas. We can’t wait and we won’t. Meanwhile that which longs to be born in us needs to take its time. But no one has the time for such. Assaulted by commercials featuring kamikaze shoppers we are seduced by the madness. We need and secretly crave to be quietened as Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist and the very Christ himself announce God’s reign over all the noise. But these intruders dare to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Advent goes against the grain as it compels me to slow down....to be quiet...to wait for Immanuel- God With Us-as it empties me and readies me so Christ will be born in me. The creative process for the artist is much like Advent. When I need a sojourn I travel over to Milledgeville, Georgia and walk the grounds of Andalusia the home of the writer Flannery O’Connor. The sense of place is so strong there like it is in her stories. Her faith and her spiritual journey were generative of her art and no one ever goes away from reading her without knowing it. A Prayer Journal written by the budding artist between 1946 and 1947 while she was a student far from Georgia at the University of Iowa allows us to glimpse in on the nativity of her art. Craving, she writes, “My dear God how stupid we people are until You give us something. Even in praying it is YOU who have to pray in us. I would like to write a beautiful prayer but I have nothing to do it from. There is a whole sensible world around me that I should be able to turn to your praise; but I cannot do it. Yet at some insipid moment when I may be possibly thinking of pigeon eggs, the opening of a beautiful prayer may come up from my subconscious and lead me to write something exalted.” Craving more elsewhere she writes, “I do not know you God, because I am in the way. Please help me push myself aside...Dear God, I cannot love Thee the way I want to. You are the slim crescent of a moon that I see and my self is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon...” It appears that I’m in excellent company. I’m not alone in my craving.

Re-INKLINGS

In the summer of 1988 I was gifted with the opportunity of studying abroad amidst the dreaming spires of Oxford University . Wandering the streets of Oxford I came upon THE EAGLE AND CHILD PUB on St. Giles Street and re-immersed myself in all things Lewis.  The writer CS Lewis had become a touch stone for me in my college days and I brought with me my love for English literature as well as an ample Bridesheadian romanticism. What still fascinates this devotee is how a group of writers formed a circle that gave rise to a renaissance in religious thought and culture.  The writers who formed the circle that came to be known as THE INKLINGS gathered twice a week to listen to each other's work and to consider the great ideas woven throughout mythology and Christianity. Joining Lewis were JRR Tolkein of THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS and Charles Williams whose ALL HALLOWS EVE  forms a perfect backdrop for THE RE-INKLINGS first gathering at THE BOOK TAVERN on the evening of October 10 at 7:00 p.m. as we begin a discussion based on C. S. Lewis's THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS. THE RE-INKLINGS will seek to echo those evenings at THE EAGLE and CHILD PUB in Oxford when wafting in the air where not only the words of these fascinating writers but an exchange of ideas that enriched the twentieth century.

MORE JESUS

Recent news stories featured on CNN, The TODAY Show, and in CHRISTIANITY TODAY might seem shocking as they reveal that close to 60% of Young Adults (the millenial generation as they are referred to) no longer identify themselves as having ANY religious affiliation. Some 55% of the same young adults did say that they USE to attend church or they had some religious afiliation. This would seem to indicate a mass exodus from the church amongst young adults. Many of the responses to the survey conducted by CHRISTIANITY TODAY indicated that what young adults are looking for is less MOCHA WITH MESSIAH and CAPPUCINO WITH CHRIST and more JESUS. As I look around Augusta I see a city that is filled with students who come here for higher education and job opportunities. I know there are many who are seeking not only to grow intellectually and to prepare for their professional lives. Many are wanting their lives to mean something more than their ability to OBTAIN the latest high tech toys and reload their Starbuck's cards. I hope that every member of Mann will make a commitment to reach out to every YOUNG ADULT they encounter and invite them to the GET REAL series based on the parables in the Gospel of Luke that I will be preaching beginning in September. Young Adults are indicating that they left churches not because of JESUS but because they didnt see JESUS in the church. One of the resources for GET REAL will be our Fall Bible Study where the goal will be for the church to be a safe place for ALL of us to ask the BIG QUESTIONS without fear( Who is GOD? Where is Jesus in the world today? What does it mean to be saved?) It is time for our churches to get real with Jesus...to strip away our attempts to market our churches with THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO STARBUCKS and get back to the JESUS of THE GOSPELS. More questions about Jesus are better for us than more MOCHA anyway.

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

I just read the most delightful story featuring an United Methodist Church's BACK TO SCHOOL ministry in Pace , Florida that reaches out to children who would not normally go to school their first day with a new pair of shoes, a fresh haircut or styling, or new school supplies. The church opens its fellowship hall and transforms the space into a BACK TO SCHOOL paradise for children to be able to put their best foot forward on the first day of a new school day. Tutors are available to provide pointers regarding good study habits. Every child gets to pick his or her new backpack with fresh supplies. And most important of all the children are prayed with and reminded of the important link between our churches and our schools.  I pray the we at Mann can establish a ministering relationship with the schools within our neighborhood. I remember as a child  walking from Swainsboro Primary to attend Good Friday services on the lawn of First United Methodist. While things have changed in the culture, we as the church MUST find creative ways to reconnect with the schools in our towns and cities. I am very privileged to substitute teach on occasion at The Episcopal Day School here in Augusta. It keeps me youthful in my perspective and increases my desire for learning and enrichment in my own life. I will always be a lifetime learner. But come to think about WE ALL SHOULD BE. You see the best translation for the word DISCIPLE is LEARNER. Everyday I want to be a better LEARNER. As we anticipate the new school year, lets rededicate ourselves to LEARNING more!

CHILDREN OF VIOLENCE

The recent verdict regarding George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin is so indicative of a society where violence reigns supreme . Both parties in this tragedy reacted as we are now schooling individuals to ... React instead of respond   And when in doubt maim or kill. ! The games we play , real and pretend  , the ways we relate and communicate, and our very demeanors are marred with the violence we not only relish but celebrate! Violence begats violence ... We now hope and anticipate! Our children are as the great Nobel prize winning novelist Doris Lessing  deemed CHILDREN OF VIOLENCE . In our world everyday is a parents worst nightmare ... Littleton or around the corner and up the street in our own neighborhoods ! As the body of Christ we must stand against ALL forms of violence and follow in the way of Christians throughout the centuries who refused to allow violence to shape their behaviors. We need to model conflict resolution in our mission and ministry and    Teach our children the Beatitudes and the great commandment.  We know the better way and its time we lived it ! We will continue to mourn for our children as long as we allow violence to shape the ways we live with one another .

WELCOME SCOUTS!!!

     As a pastor who grew up in Boy Scouting and who has first hand benefitted from Scouting all of my life since my own boyhood, I am saddened and appalled when I read of local churches that are closing their doors to Boy and Cub Scouts. This kind of message is why churches are declining across our country and when the churches says NO to any child they are ignoring Jesus welcoming all children with his words. "Suffer the children to come unto me ...for of such is the Kingdom of God."  I have witnessed firsthand how Scouting has saved the lives of boys, body and soul. To disenfranchise them and reject them is a travesty and tragic! I grew up at Camp Linwood Hayne right here in the CSRA and I treasure the years I have been associated with scouting. 
     WE MUST spread the word that Scouts and their families are welcome at Mann Memorial! Our church host the monthly meeting of The Georgia Carolina Boy Scout Council and The United Methodist Men have a longstanding relationship and partnership with BSA.
     As "the friendly Church on the Corner" let us open our hearts, minds, and doors to all and remember that THIS IS A DAY OF NEW BEGINNINGS....GOD IS DOING ALL THINGS NEW!!!

HAPPY INTERDEPENDENCE

 HAPPY INTERDEPENDENCE!!!

    We're coming up on the Fourth of July and I never think of the fourth without remembering a wonderful trip I made with my family in 1976, the year of The Bicentennial: we travelled and saw as much of history related to our country as we could that summer and our stops included Williamsburg, Jamestown, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Plymouth, and Martha's Vineyard. I was a junior in college at UGA but I was as wide-eyed and captivated as a child. The whole country was abuzz with the historic celebration even though  the country was still reeling from Vietnam, Watergate , and President Nixon's resignation. This country's amazing resiliency was so apparent and the nation was united in a way I suppose that it was not again until post 9/11. In the midst of all the furor over freedoms being under fire, I believe it is essential for us to remember that often we have ignored that with great freedom comes great responsibility: to whom much is given, much is required.
   

The late 1950's was the time of The Cold War which had followed two World Wars and was characterized by the fear of a possible war that would end all wars: nuclear war as threatened by the Soviet Union under Krushchev. That is the era of William Watkins Reid's hymn, O GOD OF EVERY NATION. Reid a United Methodist clergyman wanted to address not our country's independence but the essential interdependence required if all nations are to live in peace and harmony:
                                    O God of every nation,
                                     of every race and land,
                                    Redeem your whole creation
                                    with your almighty hand;
                                    Where hate and fear divide us,
                                    And bitter threats are hurled,
                                    In love and mercy guide us,
                                    and heal our strife-torn world.
   Perhaps we are much more eager to brandish our independence than to acknowledge that we do need
one another. Freedom should not engender in us self sufficiency and self-centeredness. How interesting that our freedoms would in fact make us more vulnerable to our fear that someone is always trying to threaten us and take our freedoms  away.  It is from such pride and fear that Reid pleads every nation be delivered . His vision in the fourth stanza is of a SHALOM (WHOLENESS), "when war shall cease, when hatred and division give way to love and peace, till dawns the morning glorious when truth and justice reign, and Christ shall rule victorious o'er all the world's domain!"
    As we celebrate Independence Day this week let's us praise God for the peace Christ is bringing among the nations and that in HIM we are interdependent!

THE SONG OF THE TURTLE

 

Turtles have always been a fascination of mine. From the little tropical turtle I brought home from the pet store one summer that would recline under his plastic palm tree in his own digs to the many I would find hiking as a boy scout or in the pond near my home in Swainsboro. Two precious friends of mine in the Riverside Church in Macon Shirley and Melson Butler had a turtle they named "Yurtle" that would return to their patio every spring like clock work. He was like a member of the family. Turtles are notoriously slow (we think) - they don't run but PLOD peacefully. The dictionary says to plod is to walk slowly with a heavy tread, to work slowly, methodically (yes in A METHODIST MANNER), and thoroughly.
     But we relish speed - FASTER is better. But our God doesn't work that way. The Creator took time to create and Ecclesiastes reminds us that "the race is not to the swift." God wants us to walk with God "plodding" like the turtle: slowly, carefully, loyally, faithfully..... Yes blades of grass grow quickly (it seems like I can watch it as soon as the summer lawn gets freshly cut). But the blades of grass also wither and fade quickly.
     Land turtles can take up to 5 hours to make a mile. . .but they teach us something like the one we found in my front yard yesterday when we returned from worship and lunch. Jacob, who has affinity for the tortoises reminded me yesterday when we were urging the creature to move to safety in a neighboring ravine.... let him take his time..... and thats what GOD would have us do I'm sure....

I love this incredible piece of sculpture by Frederick E. Hart who is so famous for his CREATION  sculptures at the front portals of The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (one of my favorite sacred spaces in our country). This piece called, RISING CHRIST depicts Christ rising triumphantly and transparently through glass so that we see the RISEN by seeing others through HIM. That is such an awesome way for us to see one another, our city, our nation, and the whole of creation.  The power of resurrection should impact the way we see....and when it does it is a DAY OF NEW BEGINNINGS everyday.....

NEW BEGINNINGS

     I am anticipating with much JOY and HOPE my first appointment in The United Methodist Church since 2008 when I suffered from colon cancer and went on disability with The South Georgia Annual Conference. I am a living witness to the SHALOM that is in the presence of Christ Jesus. SHALOM (WHOLENESS) is the promise of wellness in our minds, bodies, spirits, and relationships and it is that SHALOM that I hope to bring to Mann Memorial here in Augusta, Georgia as I begin my journey in ministry with my new family on Sunday June 23. MASON'S MUSINGS  will be a place where I will share with my church family and friends my musings and perspectives. I want this to be place where the intersections of our lives with the community and world become CROSSING places that enable us to see daily life through the eyes of FAITH.