Bending and Breathing the Way St. Ignatius Did

This is neither at the YMCA, nor is it yoga... but I'm really
getting into climbing

This summer my wife, Amanda, and I have been trying new things together in terms of fitness and well-being. We've been going to the YMCA more often, taking yoga-based classes together as well as making use of the climbing wall more often. I think I've done more climbing in my life than Amanda has, but she's done more yoga in her life than I have, so I think we've successfully avoided any conditions by which we would be competing with each other (well, that's not entirely true, but I hope you understand what I mean... we're able to avoid taking any grudges home with us).

At the same time, I have been going through the Ignatian examen less and less. That's a confession, not an update that I'm happy to offer. But, that being said, the guys over at Pray As You Go are really awesome with their social media presence and it was through their Twitter feed that I found out they're doing this #31dayswithIgnatius in preparation for St. Ignatius' feast day on the 31st of July. So I went and checked out this page they've set up that gives you the rundown on the examen prayer.

I think it had been a suggestion put out by Pray As You Go via their Twitter account, but for whatever reason I listened to the audio file they've posted as an introduction to the examen (I would recommend it to you, too, if you're at all curious about the prayer... it's on the same page that I linked to just above). What I took away is that the Jesuits at Pray As You Go have framed the examen as a method of praying through the events of your day, not just simply reflecting on them. This phrasing may be obvious to some of you, dear readers, but it's an important emphasis for me, with everything that's been going on in my life lately.

For me, lately, reflecting on anything life-related in spiritual terms has been difficult and uncomfortable. I feel like my spiritual life is going in a direction that I did not want it to go and that I'm prevented from taking it in the way that I thought I was being called to take it (if you need context for this remark, read this post I made a couple weeks ago). So a method of prayer and review that actively invites God to show me divine movement in my life... I've been shying away from the examen because it is difficult for me and causes more discomfort. But lately, I've realized that this sensation is analogous to the way I feel doing yoga.

I Need #Resurrection, the Likes O' Which Ain't Never Been Seen Before

Oh wait, yes it has. About one thousand nine hundred eighty five years ago in Jerusalem... what.

Any rate, I feel like I've been watching a lot of movies/TV since school let out the first week of June. I feel like I was working pretty hard at the end of the school year, what with my part-time teaching responsibilities plus covering for my part-time colleague. So I have felt that kicking back and taking in some of the entertainment I missed over the past few months is fine. Most of my viewing pleasure has been on Netflix; my wife and I have been getting our money's worth there watching 30 Rock. That's been fun.

I've also been using the Netflix to watch episodes of Arrow. Because superheroes.

Speaking of which, I found out that the AMC down the street has $5 weekday matinee tickets. I took advantage of that last week to watch Avengers: Age of Ultron. I don't really think there's any redeeming value there; it's just fun superhero adventure. I mean, if you really wanted to find literary merit there, you could talk about Tony Stark's hubris and the way that Marvel always portrays its heroes as very human, with many flaws and foibles.

I also took advantage of the $5 tickets to see Mad Max: Fury Road. I was really digging that one. It totally lived up to the hype, which for me included the feminist themes. I saw in that one a conflict over the possession or freedom of innocents. But I think some may disagree with me there because of the ultra-violence that Mad Max has always featured. I'd love to discuss that one if anyone is interested... (just contact me and let me know).

Now, the problem with all of these is that there's not a whole lot of redeeming content in them. I mean, I wouldn't go so far to say that any of them are trashy entertainment. But I definitely don't think there's a lot of really spiritually edifying ideas, either. Which is part of why I wrote my last blog post. And how I decided to watch a movie that my wife shared with me when we first started dating: Bella.

By the way, the blog I borrow this poster
from has a decent discussion guide that
connects this movie to scripture

What If Aronofsky Had Taught Noah In My Sunday School Class?

Today I'm writing about Darren Aronofsky's film, Noah.

For production info and cast list, check out
the movie's IMDb page

Yes, it came out last year. So I'm late to the game (I only recently watched it on Netflix).  But maybe I made up for that by live-tweeting when I watched it?

Yes, it was hotly contested because many Christians of a more biblically-literal persuasion tried to boycott the movie because it was itself not accurate to the Bible (and I will point out a few of those inconsistencies with a rant). But that really only made me want to watch it more.

Yes, I am going to give you all the spoilers along with my commentary. But now I've warned you so you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to wade into these waters (that pun was not intended).

When it comes right down to it,  I thought that the movie was visually stunning and completely captivating, even if it was Biblically inaccurate. But it was also innovative. I've grown tired of all the kid-friendly, feel-good representations of this story; the watery account of divine genocide (yes, yes, that's right... you did just witness me firing shots at my deity).

But enough with the intro. We'll get started, shan't we?

Re-entering Jerusalem with Jesus for the First Time, or, I Think I Would Fall Off My Donkey

So today is Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, depending on which particular denominational tradition you come from. This morning while I was worshiping with my faith community, I came to the conclusion that this first day of Holy Week is one that just fundamentally feels off, and I think it's for a very good reason. I saw it stated well this morning on Twitter:

#PalmSunday reminds us how quickly our hearts go from "hosanna" to "Crucify Him"
— Chris Balding (@ChrisBalding) March 29, 2015

Chris Balding's tweet resonated with me because it's a good summation of what my experience of Palm Sunday has been. We start off shouting and happy; Jesus has come into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey! He is regarded as the King of Kings and the Messiah! We can honor him with palm fronds and lay our cloaks on the dirty ground for him to walk on. But before we leave church, we are the ones who are shouting for him to be crucified.

Headed Down to San Antonio for #ADDD15 and the AED Board Meeting

Last weekend, there was not post on my blog. If any of you, dear readers, were crestfallen, I heartily apologize. But the reason that I did not post was because I was on a plane, heading to San Antonio to hang out with a bunch of deacons!

Some of the incoming board members and new board officers
at a celebration of ministry Saturday night

A Prayerful Community at #CP15MN, or, Some Combination of Those Words

Last weekend, on Saturday-Sunday February 21-22, a group of 14 twenty- and thirty-somethings gathered for a retreat called Common Place. It happened at the ECMN Retreat Center on the campus of Shattuck-St. Mary's school in Faribault, Minnesota. Amanda and I were two of those 14 and, after this weekend, I would not hesitate to call any of the other attendees friends.

Thank you, ECMN for the uploading of the pictures!

The theme of the Common Place retreat was "Stories and Silence." There were five stories and five accompanying silences that happened, and I was asked to provide one of the stories. Initially I was told that my topic was "Prayer/Community." That seemed very broad and I felt totally unqualified to talk about community, but as I thought through it, a couple of stories came to mind, so I thought maybe it wouldn't be that bad. However, when I arrived at the retreat, the schedule said that my topic was "Prayer in Community." Then, shortly afterward, it was said as "Prayer and Community." Personally, I'm a bit of a grammar nerd so the conflict between preposition and conjunction was really messing with me. Before it finally came time for me to share my story, we settled the issue by calling the topic "Prayer-in-slash-and-slash-slash-Community." So I guess we just made it work.

[Before I go any farther, a statement of full disclosure: This post is a compilation of my notes and some responses from a Twitter poll that I took in preparing for my story. It's not the exact product that I presented at the retreat, but I hope that you find it worth the read here on my blog.]

TREC Has Worked Its Butt Off... And Yet There Is Something Wanting

This post is one of mine that is rooted quite solidly in my severe case of Episcopal-itis. It is a congenital affliction that I have never been able to shake off. So if you are one of those who are not afflicted by Episcopal-itis, feel free to catch up with me on my next blog post. However, if you, too are a fellow sufferer, you have my condolences and I urge you to read on.

Image borrowed from Art of Manliness

All sarcasm aside, there is a topic that many of us in The Episcopal Church have been contending with for quite a while now: the Taskforce for Reimagining the Episcopal Church (TREC).

"Merry Christmas!" or, A Reflection on Meaning in Five Hashtags

I'm so glad that I have the time and energy to be writing on Christmas Day! I woke up this morning at my in-laws home in central Minnesota, after going to church and opening presents last night. At the end of a very tumultuous Advent, I am incredibly thankful for this Christmas Day... and to make up for my lack of focus during the Advent season, I am hoping that I might be able to make the most of the 12 day Christmas festival!

Anyway, my reason for writing today has more to do with the fact that I woke up and hit the Twittersphere to see what's out there. And I've found a few pretty awesome movements that I would like to share with you, my dear reader. There are also a couple of things that I found which I thought were quite curious. But as I'm looking over everything, I realize that it's always useful to ask that question: "What does this Christmas thing mean?"

1. #AdventWord
The first is from the Society of St. John the Evangelist (@SSJEWord)

Pray over image & #word #Receive. Share your photo @ #AdventWord. See Global #AdventCalendar http://t.co/rNx0Pqk13u pic.twitter.com/axjafA0oGb
— Advent Word (@AdventWord) December 24, 2014

A Letter to My Readers, or, Breaking the Fourth Wall (Again)

Hello to all my dear readers,

This week, I am not writing the same kind of narrative or spastic lists that I know many of you have grown to know and love. I'm sorry. What I wish to do this week is take a step back and share with you all the ways that you can connect with me and be a part of creating a larger conversation on the Interwebz. Because, truth be told, I don't just publish this blog because I need an outlet for all the ideas bouncing around in my head (although that is one of the reasons I publish this blog). I also write and publish what I do because I want to spark conversations online.

So what that means is that if you find something stirring in what I've written here on the blog, please leave a comment and say so. I'm sure there's at least one other person, if it's not me, who would love to say how it resonated with them, too.

5 Reasons Why I Think the Revised Common Lectionary Is So Cool

For those of you who regard the term "Revised Common Lectionary" as an insider term, let me please  open it up so there aren't insiders and outsiders on the topic.

I take for granted that you know the definitions of "revised" and "common," and that the meaning becomes suddenly murky when those two familiar terms are thrown together with "lectionary." A "lectionary" is a list of readings intended for some kind of worship (Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster phrase this in different ways). From the dictionary definitions, it also looks like printing these readings in a single book-binding is optional... I did not know that part previously. Throw those three words together and you have a list of Bible readings that is shared (in its entirety or in part) in the U.S. and Canada by the Lutherans, the Episcopalians, the Roman Catholics, the Presbyterians, and some Methodists. It has also been widely adopted in Great Britain and Australia (I took that info from Wikipedia, so please let me know if it's wrong but please get mad at them).

Okay, so what is it about the Revised Common Lectionary that I actually like? I'm glad you asked.

Starting a New Fire after #Kindling14

First thing in this post, let me admit that attending any given conference is still an enigma for me. What I mean by that is that I really enjoy conferences; there is usually a really good energy and dynamism when they're well-planned. But meanwhile, a conference is not my learning style. I do much better when I'm allowed to take hand-written notes on a topic and then allowed to take a day or two to digest and ruminate on the information before I take notes on a new topic (hmm... sounds an awful lot like my college schedule). At your typical conference, I have have had anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours to digest things before going onto the next workshop. And even then, the workshops and presentations may not be conducive to note-taking. So I have not been able to figure out what to do with myself at conferences, even though I think I have attended a fair number of them.

That being said, I attended this year's Episcopal conference on Young Adult and Campus Ministry. It happened at the University of Minnesota, out here in my neck of the woods. It was also dubbed Kindling '14 (because I assume we will be using the same title next year).

This is what was printed on all our itinerary and press releases

Why I think Pope Francis is a Pretty Groovy Guy

Well, my first inclination is just to be like, "Because he is!" and throw down the mic. But I know that wouldn't really have the effect I'm going for.

In all honesty, though, I've been following what the pope has been doing since he was elected for one, because Benedict's abdication was so atypical, but also for two, because Fr. Jorge Bergoglio started off his papacy with things that seemed like sheer lunacy. Of course, now those lunatic things have become somewhat normal for him as a public figure, but they persist in being so simple and revolutionary for the Roman Catholic Church as well as Christianity at large.  So I guess I need to jump on the bandwagon with my Francis crush. Or at least I'll admit that I'm in good company writing about him (seriously, this is the most recent thing I've seen about him on the Religion News Service... and there is plenty more where that came from).

Borrowed from Devoutly Catholic

So what are these lunatic things that make me so enchanted with this groovy religious leader for whom I am not obligated in any way, shape, or form to give obeisance? Oh, let me count the ways:

The Grocery Store Question

I'm still entertaining this question about how we, as Easter People, should live in the light of the Risen Christ. It's a perfect time of year, since we're in the season of Easter. And I'm excited to keep looking into this as we approach the celebration of Pentecost and the season that follows that. I'm also realizing that there was a lot of fodder for my question that I came across during the Three Holy Days. Some of it I saved and documented (some of it I didn't, unfortunately) but the following blog is based on one of those pieces.

So this tweet from Jim Naughton (and my response) went out on Good Friday:

@JimNaught it's like, all those dark times you say "I wish I could die," Christ takes all that shit and says "I'll do it because I love you"

— Tom Lutes (@lutes_thomasp) April 18, 2014

Eureka!

The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is completely unexpected. Or at least that's how it feels to me. And I'm already getting ahead of myself...

I'm continuing my trend of posting about the Sunday lectionary before I go to church on Sunday. But this Sunday is the last in Lent (well... last before Holy Week. Well...) and I really don't know what I'm going to do during Holy Week. I have enjoyed this Lenten discipline because I share once a week... but this stays on my mind all week. Which is really kinda the point, isn't it?

In the meantime, I'm writing now on Friday. At home. When I'm supposed to be teaching. But I'm not because they called a snow day.

Hey #Minnesnowta ! Never fear, second winter is here!
— Tom Lutes (@lutes_thomasp) April 4, 2014

I saw something trending on Twitter today...

Never thought I would do this, but I'm going to write a blog, without prewriting, probably without editing, and then post it in an effort to explain something I did on Twitter today...

So today started pretty standard; I have volunteered to shovel the sidewalks at church, so I had to get up and do that this morning before 8 am (that's thanks to the so-called polar vortex and its effects here in Minne-snow-ta). Luckily, after I was done with that my wife and I went over to have breakfast with my grandmother. That was lovely. We also drove her to get groceries, since she stopped driving a few years ago. Then we came home and I tried to start a Twitter trend with #meaningfulchurchjargon.

I have to admit that it was a reaction. After settling into my recliner after the trip with Grandma to the grocery store, I had logged onto Twitter, thinking I would find out what's going on in the world and then get on with some other work after that. I think I may have got more than I was bargaining for.

Almost immediately, I stumbled upon a trend that had been started by Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber. It was #meaninglesschurchjargon. People had globbed onto it and it took off. My interest was in it because I find NBW very thought provoking and challenging. But as I pursued the trend, I kept finding hurt after hurt...

Emergent church #meaninglesschurchjargon
— Randall Curtis (@RandallCurtis) February 1, 2014

'The bible clearly teaches.....' #meaninglesschurchjargon
— Claire Alcock (@parttimepriest) February 1, 2014

Missional, emerging, incarnational, welcoming, inclusive, progressive, discipleship. Must I go on? #meaninglesschurchjargon
— Broderick (@HolaBrody) February 1, 2014

I also found some telling tweets too...

The problem w/ #meaninglesschurchjargon isn't so much that it's right/wrong, but that it shames people rather than points to a better way.
— Tyler Braun (@tylerbraun) February 1, 2014

.@Sarcasticluther That uncomfortable moment when the #meaninglesschurchjargon becomes the only accurate way to describe your experience.
— Teo Bishop (@TeoBishop) February 1, 2014

I was perplexed. My blood boiled. Everything I thought was sacrosanct was laid bare for criticism... And I realized that it was just a chip in the dike and the flood waters would come running out at any time.

To be honest, I have some of my own thoughts on strange words and phrases that Christians use without thinking. Some of them, I think, are resonant. Some of them sound silly. But I tend to keep many of my opinions to myself. So when I saw these flood waters start to gush out, I responded (with as much chagrin as I could muster):

@Sarcasticluther I've discovered that anything anyone has ever used as a buzzword is #meaninglesschurchjargon Hmm... how 'bout that?
— Tom Lutes (@lutes_thomasp) February 1, 2014

It felt foolish and mean. But it was my gut reaction that the hurt people have felt by others' words has caused them to start tearing down and criticizing everything, not for the sake of proof and deeper understanding, but because they just needed some way to lash out against the words and people who have hurt them.

My wife suggested to me that I start a different trend, if I felt so passionately about it. And I scoffed at her because I have never been so popular as to start a trend. But when I was done, I gave it a try. I started #meaningFULchurchjargon because I wanted to see the things that gave people hope. I wanted to see the things that gave people energy and made them come back again and again to a group of people who have been told they are crazy too many times to count. Why would anyone return to counter cultural teachings and strange rituals, if there was nothing else that compelled them or grabbed their imagination?

It's a slow response initially. But there are moving statements...

Child Of God #meaningfulchurchjargon
— Sarah Holz (@saritabonita89) February 1, 2014

Love your neighbor #meaningfulchurchjargon
— Tom Lutes (@lutes_thomasp) February 1, 2014

"We are all one body." #meaningfulchurchjargon
— Amanda Lutes (@amandamlutes) February 1, 2014

@lutes_thomasp take this bread
— Lisa Wiens Heinsohn (@Lisa_Wiens_H) February 1, 2014

@lutes_thomasp mystery. redemption. communion. for starters...
— Krista Tippett (@kristatippett) February 1, 2014

So. Let me ask you. What is your #meaningfulchurchjargon?