My Lenten Practice

Have you chosen a Lenten discipline yet? My advice to you is this, don't give something up this year. Add a practice instead. Because after Lent, if you give something up successfully, all you will have is a story to brag about. (Or, more likely, something to feel bad about not being able to sustain.) Will power is important, so let's channel into doing something that will add to your life once Lent is over.

My discipline this year is that I am going to engage in a time of examen every evening. In the examen, you simply share with God things you are thankful for, then things you are struggling with, and then talk to God about them. For a simple guide, go here or here. Engaging in this discipline will help you to begin "listening to your life" and learn to see God's presence in your everyday activities.

Whatever practice you choose, may God bless your discipline this Lenten season.

A Very Relevant Book

My first memory of the guy is how dignified he looked while walking his dogs. Louis Weeks was the president of Union-PSCE while I attended there. He certainly looked the part. Wasp-y. Distinguished looking grey hair parted on the side. Always dressed like he just stepped out of an Orvis catalogue. When I first saw him, I thought, man, this guy really looks the part.

It didn't take long for my initial positive impression to change to one of dissappointment. Maybe it was his thick southern accent. Or perhaps it was the fact that he never learned my name despite having met him many times. Or maybe it was how he ran the school. I can't remember exactly why he annoyed me so much, but I was definitely not a fan.

That's why my enthusiasm for his new book is so strange. It is strange because not only am I not a fan, I am even less fond of church administration. Let's face it, administration is not the reason anyone goes to seminary. This is not the call they are answering. "My child, please serve me...in endless committee meetings."

Yet, I have come to discover that this is what actual day to day ministry entails. Ministry consists of thousands of little decisions and projects that in the midst of them don't seem very holy or meaningful. These are the jobs that Weeks calls "scutwork" and the ones that he holds up as vital for church workers to reclaim.

For a nice teaser of Weeks' argument, check out his short piece in the January 27, 2009 issue of the Christian Century. The book this article is promoting is called All for God's Glory: Redeeming Church Scutwork. It is published by Alban.

VBS Open House

The Resource Center is hosting a VBS Open House on Tuesday, February 10 from 4 to 8 PM in the Resource Center. Come and see for yourself the PCUSA's Discovery Canyon, Cokesbury's Camp EDGE, Group's Rome: Paul and the Underground Church, Habitat for Humanity's Under Construction, and (if it gets here) Gospel Light's SonRock Kids Camp. One lucky church will win a free copy of Camp EDGE!

Watch NOOMA Flame Online Today!

The good people at NOOMA have put the entire Flame DVD online. Running time 11:07. I'm not sure how long it will last, so check it out soon. This a powerful one dealing with romantic and sexual love. Click here to watch.