Occasionally it is good to take a 'sounding' to be certain that we are not floating into waters too shallow for safety. The name for this thread is borrowed from Dr. Wing of First Community Church, Columbus, Ohio, and from his church's newsletter and blog.

SOUNDINGS

The Big Shift

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Peter Drucker wrote a book titled The Age of Discontinuity. He made the observation that from the time before Jesus up until the beginning of the 20th century, the mode for transportation and getting things done was one and the same: the horse. With the invention of the motor, there began a radical shift from the way things had been done for thousands of years. No one knew where it would lead. And now we do.

By the dawn of this 21st century we have discovered that the world no longer depends on horses, and it doesn't work the way it used to. The playing fields are not relegated to a few privileged countries, but open to everyone. Thomas Friedman made that clear in his book The World is Flat.

And beyond that, things are changing so rapidly that our minds can't catch up. Look at these facts that can make your head spin:


The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10 to 14 jobs by age 38.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company for whom they have been employed less than 1 year.
More than 1 out of 2 are working for a company for whom they have worked less than 5 years.
According to former Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, the top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.
We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist - jobs that will be using technologies that haven't yet been invented, in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.
More than 3,000 new books are published daily.
It is estimated that a week's worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.
For the students starting a four-year technical degree, this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

What will remain the same is our need for moments of silence and the need for a human face to share the journey with.

I pray for a church willing to offer those moments of silence and hands for the journey.

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister

Aha, I can finally use this toon

At first I didn't think the 'toon was a propos, but finally it sank into this pachycephaloid's understanding: Dr. Wing does not pray for a church which sends to 'perdition' those who don't believe the same way they do, but one which offers faces and hands for the journey. Thank you, Amelia. :)

SOUNDINGS

The Secret is No Secret at All

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Last week The Secret was on the New York Times best-selling list under the heading of Advice Books. Sixteen weeks in a row now.

In reality, The Secret is really a truth that is in plain sight but remains a secret to us until the moment we can hear and act on that truth.

What the book identifies as the Secret is the law of attraction. That law says that the attitudes and thoughts you send out into the world are the best predictors of what experiences, things, and people will enter your life as a result. Jesus said: "As a person sows, so shall they also reap." Same thing.

Author and lecturer Emmet Fox commented on the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount saying, "We can choose how we shall think - in point of fact - we always choose - and therefore our lives are just the result of the kind of thoughts we have chosen to hold. We have free will, but our free will lies in our choice of thought."

My single disappointment with The Secret is this: most of the illustrations surrounding this ancient principle are translated into money, possessions, things, and narcissistic wants, with no view to finding meaning in giving yourself to others. Trust me, my office has been full of people who want more of what they have enough of and who thought that positive thinking would get it for them in life, and it didn’t.

One man came into my office last week and said, "Funny, Dick, how when one links job satisfaction to financial compensation, they're never paid enough. Yet, when they see work as a way to dance with life, meet new people, and unleash the creative tiger within, they become very rich indeed."

Viktor Frankl spoke from our pulpit in the 1950s. He said: "Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself." That is the Secret that Jesus wanted to make clear to the world.

God help us as we take the truth and the power of The Secret and make sure it goes toward the way of Jesus rather than the way of cultural narcissism. That’s my hope. And prayer.

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister

Personally I believe this is type of visualization only takes you closer to satan. Here is the trailer for "The Secret" DVD.

Yeah, it does sound like the positive thinking mindset to me as well...

Hmmm...

Many Traditional Fundamentalist TV preachers hold the idea that religion is for getting want you want in the way of worldly things, esp. money, money, money... Dr. Wing disagrees profoundly with that type of religion. It's just one reason I joined his church.

FAMILY MATTERS
by

Donice Wooster

Donice Wooster, Director of Early Childhood Ministry, has led the weekly Parent Growth group and directed the First Community Church early childhood programs for 15 years.


Works in Progress

Friday, April 06, 2007

Recently, I was introduced to the writing of Janusz Korczak by a friend and colleague. His story is deeply moving. He was a writer, and then a physician who cared for children in Poland in the early years of the 20th century. He developed a profound respect for children; for how hard they work, sometimes against great odds, to know the world and to find their place in it. He based his insights on careful observations of children, undertaken with respect for what they had to teach him. He was on Polish radio before World War II giving advice to parents, but not under his real name, as he was the son of two Jewish educators. There is much more to say about him, but the most telling story comes at the end of his life. Near the end of the war in Europe, his orphanage of Jewish children was moved to the Warsaw ghetto, where there was abject poverty. Friends encouraged him to save himself, but he would not abandon the children. A day came that the children were to be taken to the trains, whose final destination was the furnace of Treblinka. Korczak himself led the procession of 200 children, each with a blanket or toy, and carrying the child-designed flag of the orphanage. He stayed with them, boarded the train with them, and died with them.

His books are available in English, and I have been sitting with them for a week or two now. His insight is not sugary or sweet. He sees that the unconscious expectations of parents sometimes are at odds with the true nature of a child. He calls for respectful observation of a child, for listening carefully. For example, he says "When is the proper time for a child to start walking? When she does. When should her teeth start cutting? When they do. How many hours should a baby sleep? As long as she needs to." He reminds us that children have a natural progression, unique to each individual, that is to be respected. Every child is a work in progress, and as he progresses our work as parents is not to name his path but to help keep his path safe.

We are, every one of us, works in progress. If we were not truly heard as a child, we can listen to ourselves lovingly now. If we were diverted from our true path by the expectations of others, or our own fear, we can begin to move back toward it now. We are all in this together, children and adults alike. At this time when we celebrate the renewal of life, the return of spring, we can look inward for renewal as well. Korczak says it beautifully as he describes the world of an infant and moves beyond it:

"Nothing short of a futurist painting could accurately depict a child's image of herself: fingers, fist, and less distinctly, the legs, perhaps the abdomen, maybe even the head, but in indefinite contours, like a map of the Arctic regions.

But this is not all, she is still turning around and bending over in order to see what is hidden behind her. She examines herself in front of the mirror and looks at her image in a photograph. And all of this creates additional work for her, namely to find her place among her surroundings. There is Mommy, Daddy, and other people; some appear frequently, others more rarely. And in the future, she will have to find her place in society, herself amid humanity, and herself within the universe.

Well, well, now the hair has turned gray, but this work is still not done." - from Loving Every Child: Wisdom for Parents by Janusz Korczak

Transforming Community

The Rev. David Hett, Minister of Religious Life and Learning, explores the many elements that make up the individual and corporate journey into a new way of being in the world.

In One Place

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

"This is the way the book of Acts sets the scene for the “birthday of the church,” the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples: "When the day of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in one place."


I believe the metaphor of this one place refers not to a physical location, but rather to a state of conscious awareness - each individual disciple was aware of a new Presence within which was more "him" or "her," yet was not at the same time the "sense of self" they had lived with all the years prior to this experience. They experienced an awareness of a new "self," their "true Self."


They had been with Jesus, learning his spiritual practice, but also simply experiencing in him the goodness of God and the beauty of divinity and the truth of holy love and compassion. After his death, the disciples suddenly began, one by one, to experience that Presence again, but no longer outside themselves – rather, they experienced this divine presence as a substantial presence within their own selves, arising out of their deepest selves.


Suddenly, or after a period of time, they began to feel that Jesus was alive inside them - this was truly a new life! The same peace they had experienced when in his presence was now present within each of them. And they put it in the only category they could imagine - this Jesus was dead, and now he is alive, for his presence is within me. Jesus' resurrection, yes; but also theirs; it was like they had new bodies, flowing with new blood - his body, his blood.


This Presence is still available today. It is, in fact, the deepest, truest part of who we are. Actually, it is all that we truly are, but it’s just so hard to see and experience it through the fog of ego, the haze of worldly forces whose tendency is to darken our souls to their own magnificent beauty and luminosity.


When Acts says that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, I take it to mean that the Spirit is a substantial presence. It is there right now, in your soul, in your bodies. And it is more "you" than you have ever been.

Shalom,


David Hett
Minister of Religious Life and Learning

FAMILY MATTERS


Donice Wooster, Director of Early Childhood Ministry


Every Day

Friday, June 22, 2007 A friend has a husband who grew up with pet birds, and enjoys having them in their home, too. Not too long ago, my friend noticed that she was doing most of the care of the birds - cage cleaning, feeding, etc. She decided to talk to her husband about it, and point out that since he was the bird afficionado, he could take over more of their care. He told her that he appreciated that she had been doing it and said, "You know, I'm just not that good at things that you have to do every day". When she told that story, we all burst into laughter. I'm telling this story here, because it's a story that most parents can both identify with and find hilarious.

Being a parent can mean different things to different people, but one thing it always means is doing things every day. I thought about listing the things that have to be done every day, but realized it would become the whole blog entry! Our laughter at my friend's story contains the recognition of these two truths:

1. Life in a family includes a lot of things that you have to do every day, and it's crazy to think that you can evade or avoid them.

2. Everyone wishes, at least some of the time, that they could just not do them.

Holding within ourselves the tension of those two truths is a big part of becoming a grown-up and a parent. When a child comes into our lives, it may be the first time that we consistently (every day!) have to set our own longings aside some of the time to meet the needs of a small and helpless person, who is ours to love. And that small person will grow to understand that our love is real because of the daily, dependable way in which we care for him or her. And, to be honest, some of the daily tasks are just boring. Changing diapers, cleaning up after meals, laundry, helping with the same toy pick-up into the same toy baskets, brushing teeth - it's hard to make something fresh and interesting out of that. Then again, some of the daily events are deeply satisfying. Reading stories to children, bedtime rituals and kisses, singing songs in the car - such events can feel like the rhythm of life. They feed our senses with the sight of a sleepy child, the smell of a freshly bathed baby's head, the sound of an exuberant 3 year old's song, the feel of a child nestling in for a cuddle. Both parent and toddler can get out of sorts when some of those daily routines are broken.

Sometimes the truest goodness is doing the thing that needs to be done when you don't feel like doing it. Every day. There might not be anyone complimenting you on how much you do, with a generally cheerful heart, every day. So take this moment to honor yourself, for all of the times you have done those daily tasks out of love. Someday your child may understand and thank you for it, but today I do.

SOUNDINGS

So, What Do You Believe?


This guy meets me over coffee. Been listening in church. He wants to know what I believe. "About what?" I say. And he pushes a list across the table. The questions were succinct.

What do you believe about Easter?

I believe that on Easter morning something spooky happened. Those disciples who went fishing and the women who came with the last rites were not sophisticated or learned enough to sit down and devise a hoax. Faking for the sake of starting a new religion was not within their capabilities. Whatever spooky thing happened, it revealed to the friends of Jesus that death is not a barrier but a bridge to new life. They had lived with the question of Job: "If a person dies, will they live again?" The Easter experience allowed them to answer for the first time: "Yup. You’ll live again - for sure."

If you really want to experience resurrection rather than endlessly speculate about it, build an 11 by 22 ft. house for the poor in Tijuana and take a family living in cardboard and put them in that house. You will experience resurrection rather than forever argue about it. "Here on earth, God's work must truly be our own" (John F. Kennedy). Want to experience resurrection? Put on your Nikes and run toward the poor and serve them at the place of their greatest need. You will have practiced resurrection which beats talking about it any day.

What do you believe about justice?

Like Martin Luther King, Jr., I believe that the "arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." And the work of justice is never done.

What do you believe about change?

Change comes only after you become sick and tired of being sick and tired. Fannie Lou Hamer, the American civil rights leader, was right.

What do you believe about the sacred?

Rabbi Heschel was right: "The road to the sacred leads through the secular." If you can’t find God in the face of those in need, you won’t find God in a padded pew. Period.

Marcus Borg reminded us that up until 300 years ago, Christianity did not consist in what one believed. Christian faith was only attested to by the way one lived his life. Something got goofed up after that. People mistook belief statements for faith. Faith is always in the walk, not the talk. Faith is lived, not spoken. Humans love talking about what they believe. God only cares about where our feet take us.

Peace to your Easter path,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister

Care and Spirit


Humility and Faith

Saturday, July 07, 2007

"What has been called "fundamentalism" is a phenomenon of the modern world. The term itself comes from an earlier expression of Christianity, which identified certain "fundamentals" of the Christian faith, but it has been applied to forms of almost all of the world's major religions. It is not readily defined, but it involves a rigid, dogmatic form of faith that is extremely intolerant, even to the point of violence. Often it is used as an epithet to characterize other expressions of faith. However, in the words of Justice Potter Stewart on pornography, we may not know how to define it, but we know it when we see it.

Paul Cartledge is a Cambridge University scholar and expert on Ancient Greece. His recent book, Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World, describes the famous battle between the invading Persians under Xerxes and 300 Spartans under Leonidas, who along with their Greek allies, were massacred, but were able to gain time for the rest of Greece to recover and later defeat the invasion.

Cartledge relies on the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. He argues that Herodotus has much to teach us about fundamentalism in a post-9/11 world. Of course, Herodotus wrote in the pre-Christian era, and both the Persians and Greeks were polytheists. However, they took their religions seriously. Despite being a Greek in sympathy, Herodotus recognized that both the Persian and Greek religious beliefs were sincerely and legitimately held.

Deepak Chopra has combined western scientific knowledge and eastern spiritual wisdom. He recently wrote a novel on Buddha, whose life and ministry began in Chopra's native India. Chopra has not become a Buddhist because in his view it too has become schismatic and rigid. In an interview, he distinguished between spirituality and religion:

"I think spirituality is a domain of awareness where we all experience our universality and where we experience universal truth. It has very little to do with religious dogma, ideology, or even self-righteous morality."

This is not a surface spirituality, but requires commitment and humility. As Christians, we follow the way of Jesus, but we are called to go deeper in our faith in a humble and open way. The path of humility is the path of true faith.

Peace and blessings,

James M. Long
Minister of Pastoral Care"

Cut Flowers

Saturday, July 28, 2007

" Excuses are pervasive in our culture. When I think of my childhood, I remember the litany of excuses in order to get out of everything I did not want to do.

But, when our childhood litany is dragged into adulthood, there is trouble.

I remember seeing a list of real excuses employees gave their supervisors for missing work. Here are some dandies:

"I forgot to come back after lunch."

"I hurt myself bowling."

"A hit man was looking for me."

"The police arrested me as a result of mistaken identity."

"I eloped."

"A skunk sprayed me."

"I had to be there for my husband's grand jury."

Excuses will never work when it comes to the life of the spirit. The theologian D. Elton Trueblood said, "We are living in a cut-flower civilization. Beautiful as cut flowers are, they eventually wither and die. We have been cut off from our spiritual roots."

In our culture I have noticed that when we are cut off from our spiritual roots, we tend to move faster. Speeding up the pace of life is what we do reflexively in response to the loss of spiritual grounding.

The Latin word for religion literally means "to reconnect that which has been pulled apart." Classic studies in spirituality tell us that the first step toward reconnecting to our spiritual roots is to slow down. And, this step begins with silence...

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing

Senior Minister"

- www. fcchurch.com

Who You Are

Saturday, July 28, 2007

"Tommy, you've been having a lot of success. You have been playing really well, and I am proud of you. But I want you to remember this: You are what you are, not what you do."

"And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend"
- Harvey Penick with Bud Shrake

Harvey Penick was a beloved coach and teacher of golf at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. One of his great moments was when his pupil, Tom Kite, won the U.S. Open. However, "Tommy" Kite remembers the impact of the words of "Mr. Penick" on him when he was a boy of fifteen or sixteen years and was beginning to have some success in junior golf. He admits he was getting a little full of himself. His coach's words about the importance of character brought him a new perspective and stayed with him throughout his career.

We live in a world that values achievement in all human endeavors. Thus, it is easy to confuse who we are with what we do. It is important that parents, coaches, teachers, and mentors remind us that what matters most is who we are. This is why our youth program affirms young people for themselves and not just for what they have achieved. Indeed, we need reminding of this throughout our lives.

This begins with the knowledge that we are beloved children of God, made in God's own image. This is true no matter what "ups and downs" occur in life. It tells us "who we are" as well as "whose we are." This prepares us to deal with whatever life brings, knowing that God is with us and loves us no matter what happens. And that makes all the difference.

Peace and blessings,

James M. Long
Minister of Pastoral Care


- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

How to Respond to the New Atheist Movement

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Have you seen the five recent book titles that talk about atheism? In my entire ministry, I have not seen so many at one time.

Martin Marty, the foremost authority on religion in America, reminds us that this is nothing new at all. He recalls how he wrote a book in response to atheism in the 1950s. So, he almost yawns and says, "Here we go again."

Martin gives very good advice as to how we in the faith community should respond to this phenomenon:

1. Be Cool - America has seen this cycle before. There is nothing new here.

2. Send Cards of Thanks - People who make atheistic conclusions often bring up important things to talk about.

3. Don’t Sound Superior by smugly saying, "We belong to the 97% who believe." That only suggests that religious people are exactly the jerks these books say we are.

4. Converse, Don’t Argue - No one changes his or her mind in an argument; not one! Think about it.

5. Agree with the Authors that in the name of religion horrible things have been done and are being done, but point out that that’s not the whole story of religion. Our task is to point out the difference between good faith and bad religion.

6. Show Regret that often religious communities have been ineffective at presenting positive rationales, thus leaving people hungry for clarification as well as gullible in the face of misinterpretations.

7. Hold Up a Mirror - Ask whether anything anyone in religion is saying or doing gives legitimate grounds for anti-religion to voice itself and creates a market for books like these.

And finally, remember the words of Marcus Borg who reminds us that the Christian faith has never been about belief, but has always been a witness to a way of being and seeing in the world fashioned after the life of Jesus.

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing

Senior Minister

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

So, What Do You Know?

Monday, October 08, 2007

Alan Alda's latest book is 'Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself.'

He lifts up the fact that the opposite of faith is not doubt. Often the opposite of faith is believing anything that comes down the pike.

Some people find it easier to believe something - anything - than not to know.

Alda says, "We don't like uncertainty - so we gravitate back to the last comfortable solution we had - no matter how cockeyed it is."


Alan Alda played the role of Richard Feynman in a play. He noted that Feynman as a scientist enjoyed what people of faith should be comfortable with, and that is not knowing. Feynman enjoyed not knowing.

Listen to Alda: "Feynman would proceed for a while with an idea as if he believed it was the answer. But that was only a temporary belief in order to allow himself to follow it wherever it led. Then, a little while later, he would vigorously attack the idea to see if it could stand up to every test he could think of. If it couldn't stand up, then he simply decided he just didn't know. 'Not knowing,' he would say, 'is much more interesting than believing an answer which might be wrong.'"


Faith communities need a healthy dose of what Feynman said. Faith communities need a healthy dose of agnosticism (not knowing). Every faith should have a little box marked "I don’t know" where we can place all of the things we can't get our arms and minds and hearts around.

And then we can get on to the things we do know. Remember Mark Twain (as I have quoted twice lately) said, "It is not the things I don't understand in the Bible that bother me, but the things I do understand."

What scares me today are not faith communities that "don't know," but faith communities with such easy certainty that they are willing to abandon all sacred practice to get their way.

Faith at its best, acts on the little and big things it knows, and then puts into the "I don't know" box all that cannot be solved. Then faith does whatever needs to be done next in the name of love. In that way, you can't go wrong.

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing

Senior Minister

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Stephen Unwin and the God Debate

Friday, October 19, 2007

Dr. Stephen Unwin worshipped among us along with his family until their move to the great Northwest about a year ago.

Stephen once walked through the line on Sunday morning and handed me his book whose title is The Probability of God.

Recently I wrote about the new atheism as talked about in several new books.

Well, Stephen is referred to in Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion. Here in part is what our own Stephen had to say in response to Dawkins book:

"It is clear that on the question of God's existence, Dawkins comes down firmly on the side of certainty.

"This is hardly shocking, as certainty is the position of almost all participants in the God debate. What perplexes me about Dawkins' particular affirmation of this almost universal position is that Bertrand Russell's observation - that the fundamental cause of problems in the world is that the intelligent are full of doubt while the stupid are cocksure - is clearly inapplicable here.

"Bakewell points out that here in the early 21st century, religions seem to have 'the secular world running scared.' I agree. However, I would be as loath to put this down to religion itself as I would be to attribute the many secular atrocities of the 20th century to atheism.

"Respect for uncertainty has been central to both my faith and my career in science."

Stephen says that this last statement is unpopular today among both faith groups and atheists.

Perhaps that could be the starting point for both faith and atheist groups: admitting that they do not know everything and that in some things they could be wrong.

Unfortunately, that is a lot to ask of people with extreme positions.

Do you want to chat with Stephen? Do so at contact@stephenunwin.com

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing

Senior Minister

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Grace Is Not a Blue-Eyed Blonde

Friday, October 26, 2007

I didn't listen much in church when I was a kid, but knew I was loved. Good people were all around me. Never can I afford to forget their gift of grace.

Grace is the first word that got through to me in my high school years and set me on a mini-theological journey. Our minister and later my mentor said, "Grace is what you need, but don't deserve." I suddenly perked up and listened for a moment. The life of that preacher turned out to be among the greatest gifts of grace in my life, far more than the words he gave me.

In seminary, it was Paul Tillich, the great theologian, who captured the best definition of grace in his now famous sermon You Are Accepted. Hear him:

"And in the light of grace we perceive the power of grace in our relation to ourselves. We experience moments in which we accept ourselves, because we feel that we have been accepted by that which is greater than we. If only more such moments were given to us! For it is such moments that make us love our life, that make us accept ourselves, not in our goodness and self-complacency, but in our certainty of the eternal meaning of our life. We cannot force ourselves to accept ourselves. We cannot compel anyone to accept himself. But sometimes it happens that we receive the power to say "yes" to ourselves, that peace enters into us and makes us whole, that self-hate and self-contempt disappear, and that our self is reunited with itself. Then we can say that grace has come upon us."

We gather as a community of faith regularly, waiting together with bated breath, until that grace moment when we find these words to be wonderfully true. Grace comes not at our command, but in God's time. That involves waiting, which we are not too good at.

And when you finally get it (like a good joke) that you are accepted as you are, not as you ought to be - then grace will no more be longed for, but will be powerfully alive within you. And then we will have to wear sunglasses as we witness your bright light shining in a dark world.

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Intentionality, Practice, Vitality

In my home town of Modesto, California, there is a sign as you enter the town which reads: "Water, wealth, contentment, health." There was and is plenty of water, and time has taught me that wealth, contentment and health are largely matters that are up to us.

Life consists in knowing what can be received, and what must be sought.

Recently Diana Butler Bass blessed us by sharing her thorough research on church life in America. She concluded, "Congregations that intentionally engage Christian practices are congregations that experience new vitality." The three main words are intentionality, practice and vitality.

Every church in America has been exposed to the work of Willow Creek Church outside of Chicago. Often the methods and ways of that congregation have been imitated by other churches with the hope that their church will have the same phenomenal growth of Willow Creek.

Before moving into action, you need to hear this. Bill Hybels, the Senior Minister of Willow Creek says, "We have made a mistake." They have concluded that "participation in programs did not inculcate Christian discipleship and that they had spent millions of dollars on programs thinking that they would help people grow - only to find that there was no real increase in parishioners' love for God or their neighbor."


Hybels again: "We should have told people to take responsibility to become 'self-feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their Bible and how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."


Like in my home town, we at First Community will need to discern the difference between what can be given us, and what is up to us to get on our own through intentional spiritual disciplines.

I can't wait to see where that search will take us!

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

A Christmas Suggestion for Your Calendar

Thursday, November 15, 2007

It has already started - ideas for Christmas events, plays, Nutcrackers, zoo lights, breakfast with Santa, projects at the library.......

Are your days already pretty full? How many extra hours do you have in a day now? When you think about what you need to do for Christmas, where will the time come from? Here is an idea that several parents have said works very, very well for them.

Take out your calendar now, and put a big X through several days between now and the new year. Some before Christmas, and some just after Christmas. Try to make them days that, if possible, both parents are available. If that isn't possible, then do it anyway and know that the X extends into the evening. Now those days are committed to your family. When someone calls and says "Come to our holiday open house" you can say, "I'm so sorry, but we have a commitment that day". When the people from work want to go out for a holiday dinner, you can say "I'd love to, but I have plans". And the commitment, the plan, is that you'll be home with your family. Your family, the people you love most, won't get lost in the holiday shuffle of demands that aren't even especially close to your heart. Safeguard those days from turning into catching up on housework and errands. Your commitment is to family time.

Perhaps you'll use one of the days for a family trip to buy a few wreaths and your Christmas tree, and you can make a leisurely outing out of it and call it "Hanging of the Greens Day". Maybe you'll use those crossed-off days to just stay home and do the things that help your child feel connected and peaceful - reading stories, playing, cooking together, having time. Maybe a leisurely stroll through the zoo, without a time crunch or an agenda, would feel good to all of you.

Having a predictable routine and relaxed, loving parents makes children feel secure and safe. Isn't it ironic that the holidays, which are theoretically focused on children, so often get us out of routine and make us frazzled? If you've never said "No" to the office party or a yearly gathering before, it can seem strange and difficult. You aren't saying no to it forever, just for these few years while your children are young and home is the center of their universe. So many adult choices are between two good things, not a clear-cut choice between the good thing and the bad thing! Parties, ballets, zoo lights are all wonderful things. Young children can only do a little bit of them at a time, cushioned by their routines. So you can choose, instead, the other good thing - quiet, relaxed family time that has been carefully preserved on the calendar. Time to lie under the Christmas tree, looking up at the lights, and telling stories. What a gift! Now, off to your calendar........


-Donice Wooster, from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

To Know You Is To Love You

The word "know" has so many layers of meaning that it can be hard to pinpoint what we mean when we use it in different contexts. If one of the goals of being a good parent is to help a child really know himself or herself, that kind of knowing implies understanding and acceptance, and ultimately loving oneself just as one is. Hard work, that can take a lifetime. The role parents have is to be a mirror for their children, reflecting back to them what they notice and understand about their child: strengths, interests, growing edges, struggles, joys. The most challenging part of being that mirror is being an objective mirror that doesn't judge what it sees. (I don't mean by this that you don't set limits. As you reflect a child's anger you also keep them from expressing it aggressively, but you allow the feeling and help them to understand it.) What makes it hard to be a reflective mirror?

If you haven't had much experience yourself of people reflecting your feelings without judgment, it's a learned skill. There may be aspects of yourself that you don't know very well, like why certain behaviors send you over the brink while you can take others in stride. You can begin practicing this skill on yourself. Practice simply observing yourself - what you like, what you don't like, what you do well even when you don't feel like it, what interests you. Practice describing these things to yourself without adding any judgment.

For example: "I like being a worker bee more than an organizer. When I help out at elementary school, I need to choose the hands-on activities, not the phone-calling." Or even "This isn't a time in my life that I can volunteer any extra time to school; I feel too conflicted and busy already." or "I seem to handle my child's anger and happiness well, but when she's scared I have a different reaction and want her to get over it. What do I do when I'm scared? How did my parents react when I was scared?" or "Every time I walk by the library I feel this longing to just spend some time browsing by myself." Which might mean that you find a time to get a sitter and give yourself a couple of hours at the library keeping yourself company.

In each of these examples and any others you might imagine, you are being careful not to add judgment; you are not saying "and I shouldn't feel that way" or " but that would be self-indulgent" or "I shouldn't want that". You are just observing yourself and caring for what you observe.

You might even notice ways that you've changed - that you used to really desire things that don't interest you much now. You might notice that having children has changed your thinking about priorities. Recently I asked some parents what surprised them the most about parenting, and one said "I didn't realize how much of myself I would enjoy sacrificing for the needs, pleasures and growth of my son."

This kind of non-judgmental self-observation can lead to a much deeper self-acceptance and love of who you really are. It is from that place, that grounded self-understanding, that you can be a mirror for your child. It's much easier to accept and reflect a child's longings and dislikes and struggles if you have accepted your own. You are both human beings with human emotions, and the more you know of yourselves the more loving you can be toward yourselves and each other.


-Donice Wooster (Director of Early Childhood Ministry), from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Give Happiness a Chance

The framers of the Declaration of Independence must have thought happiness is something you can achieve. They put it right along "life and liberty."

From that time on "life and liberty" have been given vigorous protection. And we have been left to sort out the meaning of "happiness" on our own.

I owe this column to Eduardo Porter, a New York Times reporter and an insightful observer: "Despite all the wealth we have accumulated - increased life expectancy, central heating, plasma TVs and venti-white-chocolate-mocha Frappuccinos (and 18,000 other choices at Starbucks) - true happiness has lagged our prosperity."

Back in 1968, a politician said, "The nation's gross national product measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile."

"Most disconcerting" says Porter, "happiness seems to have little relation to economic achievement, which we have historically understood as the driver of well-being. A notorious study in 1974 found that despite some 30 years worth of stellar economic growth, Americans were no happier than they were at the end of World War II. A more recent study found that life satisfaction in China declined between 1994 and 2007, a period in which average real incomes grew by 250 percent."

What is being discovered is this: more money and a lottery win can bring fleeting happy moments. Non-monetary rewards, like more time off, or more time with friends or family are likely to produce more lasting changes in the level of happiness.

Porter's final conclusion: "One thing seems certain, lining up every policy incentive to strive for higher and higher incomes is just going to make us all miserable. Happiness is one of the things that money just can't buy."

Take all the words of Jesus that point to happiness, they boil down to this: Happiness is never found when seeking it directly. Happiness is the by-product of giving yourself to the greatest need and cause you can find in life.

Do this and happiness might have a chance of finding its way into your life.


Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Sacred Necessity

Friday, December 14, 2007

"An American traveler planned a long safari to Africa. He was a compulsive man, loaded down with maps and time tables and agendas. Workers had been engaged from a local tribe to carry the cumbersome load of supplies, luggage and "essential stuff."

"They all woke very early the first morning and traveled very fast and very far. On the second morning, they all woke very early and traveled very fast and also went very far. On the third morning, they all woke very early and traveled very fast and went farther still. And the American seemed pleased. On the fourth morning, the tribesmen refused to move. They simply sat by a tree. The American became incensed. "This is a waste of valuable time. Can someone tell me what is going on here?"

"The translator answered, "They are waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies."

"That story that inspirational speaker Terry Hershey gave me describes us, except we don't stop and wait for our souls to catch up with our bodies. We just keep on going until we collapse and then wonder, "what went wrong?" Blaise Pascal said, "By means of a diversion, we can avoid our own company 24 hours a day." God's company, too. We go many places, but are not present at any of them.

"In Advent, we are invited to look again at sacred necessity. Sacred necessity is not another "to do" list, but an invitation to savor moments of stillness, even silence. Our sanity depends on sacred necessity. That sacred necessity is not negotiable.

"I can hear a choir of voices saying, "But Dick, you don't know how full my life is - especially coming into this season. How about making this a new year's resolution?" To that, I respond with a Dr. Phil voice: "What part of 'not negotiable' do you not understand?"

"Start here now:

"1. Get the book Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrich. Read it in small chunks.
2. Spend 10 minutes daily in absolute quiet. See if after a week you crave more minutes, and then add them. If 10 minutes is good, stay with it. That time is your Sabbath time.
3. Sabbath time means to quit. Stop. Be uncluttered. Waste time with God.
4. Stillness speaks in ways busyness cannot. Stillness restores.

May your Advent begin with an adventure into that which your soul craves and that only you can give.

Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister"


- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Family Matters

by Donice Wooster,(Director of Early Childhood Ministry)

Some Thoughts and a Poem for Christmas

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

"The Christmases that one spends as a parent of young children can be especially harried, since children's needs either stay the same or increase as the days get busier, and they work at keeping us connected to them, instead of distracted. They aren't capable, yet, of cutting us any slack just when we need some. So we might miss the connection to the mystery and, one might even say, holiness that is right in front of us, especially at this season. It is no accident that many cultures celebrate ceremonies of deep meaning at the time of year when it is darkest, but we begin to turn again towards the light.
The historical Jesus was born in a particular time and place, but spiritual rebirth can happen in each of us, over and over, and we are especially tuned to the possibility as the story is retold at this time of year. As the story is told, there is a longing in us to be part of that Holy Family, attended by shepherds, angels and Magi. There is an interface between our world and the world in which that holy birth happened, separated only by time. It is an archetypal and a deeply moving story. When you have young children, it is easier to imagine yourself into the story, but it is also possible to be so busy that you miss the quiet sacredness in which you live.
So here is a poem by a favorite of mine, Wendell Berry. Berry lived on his family homestead farm, going back several generations, and tried to live in the old ways as much as he could. I find that each time I read it I find something new in it. It reminds me that a holy birth is possible now and here, as much as in that long ago time and place."


Remembering that it happened once,
We cannot turn away the thought,
As we go out, cold, to our barns
Toward the long night's end, that we
Ourselves are living in the world
It happened in when it first happened,
That we ourselves, opening a stall,
(A latch thrown open countless times
Before), might find them breathing there,
Foreknown: the Child bedded in straw,
The mother kneeling over Him,
The husband standing in belief
He scarcely can believe, in light
That lights them from no source we see,
An April morning's light, the air
Around them joyful as a choir.
We stand with one hand on the door,
Looking into another world
That is this world, the pale daylight
Coming just as before, our chores
To do, the cattle all awake,
Our own white frozen breath hanging
In front of us; and we are here
As we have never been before,
Sighted as not before, our place
Holy, although we knew it not.


- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Care and Spirit

Peace of Mind

"I do not agree with the popular success literature that says that self-esteem is primarily a matter of mind-set, of attitude - that you can psych yourself into peace of mind. Peace of mind comes when your life is in harmony with true principles and values and in no other way." -Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey

The bookstores are full of self-help books that offer people many ways to achieve personal goals and dreams. At stages on our spiritual journeys, we may look for just the "right" book on religion, spirituality, psychology, business, athletics, health, fitness, or such in hopes that it will bring positive change in our lives. Many of these books can be helpful, but we all know that reading alone will not bring the desired change. It requires focus and commitment, perhaps even an inner awakening or transformation.

Often we go from one thing to another without truly staying with whatever program is offered. People who benefit from a particular book or approach may encourage others to embark on the same path with an evangelical zeal. While the substance of any program is important, it is more important for someone to stick with one thing that seems to work for them than to look constantly for the next new approach.

I think the work of Stephen Covey has had staying power because it reaches some deeper truths about people and the process of change. I share his skepticism that you can talk yourself into peace of mind, although I do believe that prayer and meditation can quiet the mind of fear and anxiety. At some foundational level, it is living life consistent with certain principles and values that brings peace of mind.

For Covey, the principles and values are the seven habits of highly effective people, but I believe that underlying it all is a life of faith or trust. At some point, no matter what happens, we have to stake our very lives on a loving God who knows us and never will let us go. That brings true peace of mind.

Peace and blessings,

James M. Long
Minister of Pastoral Care

from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

A Psalm for the Shadows Monday, December 24, 2007

"Come Be My Light" was the recent book written about the spiritual struggle of Mother Teresa. We discovered long after her death that she was terrified by doubt and the fact that God seemed not to be present to her. Her spiritual life was lived almost exclusively in the shadow of doubt and seeming abandonment.

Bottom line: Mother Teresa simply shoved her painful struggle aside, didn't gripe, kept praying anyway and kept doing good. In an earlier book about her life, a rendition of Psalm 23 was printed. This translation was a favorite of Mother Teresa in the moments of doubt and shaky faith.

If you don’t need this translation for your life now, there will be a day you do, so keep it close by.

"The Lord is my pacesetter…
I shall not rush;
He makes me stop for quiet intervals;
He provides me with images of stillness
which restore my serenity.
He leads me in the way of efficiency through calmness of mind
and his guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day,
I will not fret, for his presence is here;
His timelessness and his all importance will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity
by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility;
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours
for I shall walk in the Pace of my Lord
and dwell in his house for ever."

— A version of Psalm 23 from Japan, as reprinted in
Mother Teresa, Life in the Spirit:
Reflections, Meditations, Prayers



Peace to you,

Dr. Richard A. Wing
Senior Minister

from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

The Life

Monday, December 24, 2007

The last in that trinity of "I Am" statements accorded to Jesus in John 14:6 is "I Am, the Life."

His followers saw and experienced in Jesus the embodiment of God. As later followers searched the Hebrew scriptures to describe their experience of Jesus, one idea they latched on to was "Immanuel," God-is-with-us (Isaiah 7:14). They saw Jesus living out the true Life: both gentle - "a bruised reed he will not break (Isaiah 42:1-4) - and powerful - "he will bring forth justice to the nations," dethroning the mighty and lifting up the poor (Samuel 2:1-10; rf. Luke 1:46-55).*

God-with-us is what we really celebrate at Christmas - the personal incarnation of Divine Being in a particular person in a particular place in a particular historical time. But that's not just about Jesus, in my opinion.

Nor is it the opinion of Meister Eckhart, the 13th century Christian mystic: "People think God has only become a human being there - in his historical incarnation - but that is not so; for God is here - in this very place - just as much incarnate as in a human being long ago. And this is why God has become a human being: that God might give birth to you as the only begotten Son [or Daughter], and as no less."

Many spiritual traditions, including Christianity, identify this personal essential identity as a singular shooting star of light shining in the utter black void of the night sky.

In the mystical Christian tradition, more appropriately for Advent, this personal essential identity has been symbolized in the Star of Bethlehem

- it arises to witness the birth of essence in its own particular way in your soul. You, a particular incarnation of the Divine, are a particular shooting star of divine light in this field of Mystery.

Or, as Donice Wooster reminded me of the language given this idea by Jungian analyst Pauline Napier of Pittsburgh: We are all shards of the Godhead, and each of us is the only one that can live out the shard that we are.

Shalom,

*Early Christian usage of the Hebrew Bible belies humorist Stephen Colbert's great little snippet: "After Jesus was born, the Old Testament basically became a way for Bible publishers to keep their word count up."

David Hett
Minister of Religious Life and Learning

from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

God's Whisper of Love

I know what is inside your heart.
I see your courageous impotent love, and your fear, and the
tears you would cry if you could.
And I do so love you.
- Gerald G. May, M.D.

At a recent gathering of the Shalem Society for Contemplative Leadership, I was given a copy of these words by the late Dr. Gerald May, psychiatrist and contemplative theologian at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. According to Jerry, these words "seemed to be whispered by God to me." They spoke of God's love.

Most of us have a hard time accepting that God really loves us. We may proclaim God's unconditional love and grace for all people, but down deep it does not seem to apply to us. We are too used to evaluating ourselves and being evaluated by others. Our world seems to contradict any notion of unconditional love.

And yet, mystics and poets through the ages have proclaimed God's unconditional love found in that still, small voice within each of us. It seems that only in prayer, that deepest, most intimate encounter with God, can we find this love.

Dr. May wrote a book on the Spanish mystic, St. John of the Cross, called The Dark Night of the Soul. Although John wrote commentaries on his poetry, he recognized that words were inadequate in describing the spiritual life. Only poetry could come close to expressing this deep reality of God's love.

In The Living Flame of Love, John wrote:

How gently and lovingly
you wake in my heart,
where in secret you dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory,
how tenderly you swell my heart with love.

This is what Jerry encountered when he heard God whisper, "And I do so love you."

Peace and blessings,

James M. Long
Minister of Pastoral Care

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

The Truth

Jesus embodied the divine Presence. It is clear from the reaction to his death that those closest to him experienced God in him. Later followers who mystically experienced Jesus the Christ, could put in his mouth these words so misused and misunderstood: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life."

In this statement, says Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth, Jesus "speaks of the innermost I Am, the essence identity of every man and woman, every life-form, in fact."

This is the significance of the "I Am" statements in John. The I Am is the Truth. The I Am is the great source of life; It is the manifested life in each moment; in fact, It is All there is.

Thus, Tolle can say, "you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time. The very Being that you are is Truth."

As I write this, I am looking at the kindergarten and preschool pictures of my two granddaughters. If they are not the reflection of Truth, then I don't know what is. Those are Beings of divine essence, and it wouldn't matter if they happened to be born into a Buddhist family, a Muslim family or a family of atheists. God is not threatened by this. Jesus is not threatened by this. Why should I be?

There is no question that Jesus was a seeker after Truth. Jesus' life, therefore, points to the Truth for Christians: that the Truth is loving and therefore can be followed all the way, even if that means giving up outmoded ideas contained in the Bible, or outmoded concepts of God, or even those about Jesus himself. It's also why we needn't fear the scientific truths that have been discovered over the past 500 years or more like some Christians seem to be.

I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, but even that reality - that the Truth is often feared and denied - is part of the Truth that is God, that is Love. This is why for me, the message of Jesus is so inclusive - it includes everyone and everything.

Thus, Jesus could say "Come to me, all who are burdened down…my yoga (practice) is easy…relax into me and I will give you peace."

Shalom,

David Hett
Minister of Religious Life and Learning

- from a blog at http://www.fcchurch.com

Journey to the Center of the Soul

I've had to read some Freud lately. Not so easy going.

But Freud was writing about soul-work, and that gets lost in translation, especially by his American interpreters: where Freud used the German word for "soul," English translations changed it to "mind" or "mental" - a huge difference.

Bruno Bettelheim explains this and other translation errors and obfuscations in a little book called Freud and Man's Soul. And, regardless of your view of Freud, I primarily want to share and annotate one of the quotes from Bettelheim, because it so well describes what the spiritual journey is about:

In The Interpretation of Dreams [one of my required readings], Freud told about his arduous struggle to achieve ever greater self-awareness. In other books, he told why he felt it necessary for the rest of us to do the same. In a way, all his writings are gentle, persuasive, often brilliantly worded intimations that we, his readers, would benefit from a similar spiritual journey of self-discovery.

Like many great spiritual teachers, Freud tracked his own experience to arrive at profound new metaphors of the inner psychic structures. Then, in one brief statement, Bettelheim defines spirituality:

Freud showed us how the soul could become aware of itself.

And, then, in a complete understatement:

To become acquainted with the lowest depth of the soul - to explore whatever personal hell we may suffer from - is not an easy undertaking.

No kidding, Bruno! But he follows with this:

Freud's findings and, even more, the way he presents them to us give us the confidence that this demanding and potentially dangerous voyage of self-discovery will result in our becoming more fully human, so that we may no longer be enslaved without knowing it to the dark forces that reside in us.

True spirituality does not pull us out of life; it puts us more deeply into the world, "becoming more fully human." Thus, we can learn how to love:

By exploring and understanding the origins and the potency of these forces, we…gain a much deeper and more compassionate understanding of our fellow man.

That's a good description of the path and the goal of the spiritual journey, by whatever name you call it