When belief systems fail

Kem Meyer has a great post on belief systems and what happens when they fail. Makes me think about what my assumed belief systems are, how I define myself, and whether or not my actions show that I believe what I say I believe.

Everything is spiritual

Rob Bell, creator of the popular nooma series, went on a tour last year entitled 'Everything is Spiritual'. It was just him, a white board, and 2 hours of incredible teaching. After he finished, a man in his mid-forties who was sitting in front of me stood up and said to his wife, "that was the most amazing presentation I have ever seen". Anyway - if you know nooma, you know the quality, and they have just released the DVD of the everything is spiritual tour. I highly recommend it. There are some video clips available on their site.

worship as relationship

when my daughter aliyah was 2 years old, there were times she would wait at the front door for me to come home. When she saw me walking up to the door at the end of the day, she would jump and scream and burst with joy that her daddy had come home. I loved this. I cannot tell you how much joy this little demonstration of emotion gave me as a father. I looked forward to it each day. It is good to know that someone loves you, but to see it expressed without reservation is breathtaking.

as i reflect a little bit more on this experience, the action of my daughter jumping & screaming upon my return is not completely what gives me joy, but i think it is what the action signifies that gives me joy. It shows me that when I am apart from aliyah, she misses me and when we are reunited, she is overwhelmed with emotion that she can't contain herself. I see this as testament to the relationship we have developed (or maybe she was just tired of being around mommy all day).

I wonder if our relationship with God is (or should be) similar. If our worship of God is an expression of our relationship with God, then I would argue that by the looks of things in most churches....(now this may sound harsh)...that we don't really like God all that much.

I am reminded of Anne of Green Gables (yes...i admit that I have read, and even enjoyed the stories of young Anne Shirley, who I feel we may have a lot to learn from). Anne is an orphan who has recently been brought into a new home where she is instructed that she must pray before bedtime and that the 'correct' way to pray is to kneel quietly. this is her response:

"Why must people kneel down to pray?" If I really wanted to pray I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep, woods, and I'd look up into the sky--up--up--up--into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just FEEL a prayer. Well, I'm ready. What am I to say?"

Anne, I feel, is looking at the purpose of prayer, not the method, and for her - she seems to be closest to God in nature, and not necessarily in a building. I am not saying that kneeling is bad. in fact - i don't think we humble ourselves enough in the presence of God, but what I think I'm trying to say is that we seem to isolate either the method or the emotion and are out of balance in one or the other. Some of us have lost the emotional part from of our relationship with (worship of) God and all that is left are the methods whose meanings have been lost or forgotten or we focus so much on the theology of God that we forget we that we are in relationship with God. Then others of us have slowly lost much of the tradition and history that enriches our faith and our worship. we need balance.

So what happens in a relationship when something is out of balance? It seems that in our society, when speaking of marriage, people usually get a divorce. And that is really sad. No matter how good the emotions feel, or how great one aspect is, if all we count on is that one element of the relationship, then it will eventually crumble. We must build our relationships holistically. but how? with what?

I would suggest spending time developing trust, respect, intimacy, joy, laughter, security, hope, and a ton of other things to make a healthy relationship. If this is so in a marriage, why would this not be so with our relationship with God. Of course, saying it and doing it are 2 completely different things. I know in my head what I need to do to express love to my wife & daughter. I know what I should do to develop my relationship with God. But doing it is hard. In fact, sometimes it is a pain. but, I am always glad when I have put in the extra effort.

I think all relationships come down to something I heard in a sermon once:

The best use of life is love
The best expression of love is time
The best time to love is now

worship as instinct

A friend once asked me about my theology of worship. I was a little taken aback as I had never really consciously thought about it in that way. I thought only pastors, deep thinkers and theologians have a theology of something. Anyway - as I tried to answer, to describe my thoughts on worship, I found myself with a flood of ideas and passion about what worship is intended to be, but also with frustration and bitterness with how worship has come to be defined. So here begin some of my thoughts on this thing we call worship (although i still wouldn't call it a theology).

instinct
All creatures have instinct. I really don't quite understand it, but somehow all living things have them. Wikipedia defines instinct as 'the inherent disposition of a living organism toward a particular behavior'. So, something inherent in us is encouraging specific behavior. I find that interesting.

Now, assuming that God did create the world, then one could suppose that there would be traces of God left within the creation. Could it be those traces of God that give us the inherent desire to seek meaning beyond ourselves? Could the quest for self-actualization really be an instinct not only to find, but also to worship God?

I am reminded of a song by the late Rich Mullins entitled 'The Color Green'. I am told that it was written on a tour bus traveling through the mid-west, looking out onto acres and acres of farmland. To me, the song speaks of all creation uniting in worship, declaring that this earth is part of the house of God. Creation worshiping God through its existence.


The Color Green

And the moon is a sliver of silver
Like a shaving that fell on the floor of a Carpenter's shop
And every house must have it's builder
And I awoke in the house of God
Where the windows are mornings and evenings
Stretched from the sun
Across the sky north to south
And on my way to early meeting
I heard the rocks crying out
I heard the rocks crying out

And the wrens have returned and they're nesting
In the hollow of that oak where his heart once had been
And he lifts up his arms in a blessing for being born again
And the streams are all swollen with winter
Winter unfrozen and free to run away now
And I'm amazed when I remember
Who it was that built this house
And with the rocks I cry out

Be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
Suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise

beautiful. absolutely beautiful. rocks crying out, fields praising God through color. It is in nature to worship God. It is in our nature, our instinct, to worship God.

Could this be the first step to understanding what worship truly is...allowing the traces of God within us to help us recognize the Creator. The creation instinctually seeking the Creator? It's something to think about.

More to come on this....