book review of the week

Early in the morning, often before the break of dawn, my cat Buddy saunters over to my bedroom door and softly meows until I let him in. In his own simple, beautiful way Buddy longs to be intimate with his master. Over the years Buddy's example has reminded me of the importance of rising early in the morning to spend time with my Master. As silly as it sounds, Buddy has taught me how to pray. In Cat Psalms you will delight in dozens of stories about how God's creatures, especially cats, can encourage us to enter into a more fulfilling relationship with our Creator.

Also Available:

Dog Psalms

Pet Psalms, 2 Volume Pack

reader/response

Prov. 1:22-23

“how long, o simple ones, will you love being simple?
how long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my Spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.”

God help me, but I have been scoffing at your salvation. I have considered myself too sophisticated and urbane to point people to your cross and speak of the salvation found in Jesus. Instead of proclaiming salvation I have simply promoted nurturing human relationships that are sprinkled with a little spirituality and occasionally interrupted by prayer.

God help me! Pour out your Spirit upon me so that I might develop a deeper understanding of your salvation and reckon once again with the One who saves us from our sins. I openly confess that in regard to salvation I am one of the simple ones. I think that salvation is so much more than the individualistic pardon and season pass to heaven that others spoke of in my youth, yet it is also surely more than the vague promise of wholeness and the eventual realization of justice that the progressives proclaim. Although seminary trained, in regards to salvation I a simpleton who knows next to nothing. I have little conception of the transcendent wonder and beauty of the place which lies at the end of this narrow path. But, on account of your grace, I once again believe that the place is enchanted. As a result, I recommit myself to looking for, understanding, dreaming about and anticipating the salvation you have provided for your children.

I repent of both my ignorant assumption of sophistication and scoffing tongue. So pour out your Spirit. Make your words known. Reveal your salvation known to this scoffer and simpleton.

a revelatory cliché

the devil is in the details. that's what they say and i don't feel a pressing need to refute them.

however, i am beginning to believe that the opposite is also true: the gospel is also in the details. this assertion seems pretty clear in Jesus' teaching, where he warns that denouncing a person as a fool can lead you down the highway to hell and extending a cup of water to the thirsty is a way of lavishing love upon Christ.

but while this assertion is clear in Jesus' ministry, i confess that it has not been clear in my life. over the past two years i have let many of the details of gospel ministry slip through the cracks. i have written few encouraging notes, followed up on few former members and visitors and have rejected far more calls than i have accepted--leaving many stories untold, sins unconfessed and a congregation which has been deprived of the love of listening.

i repent of my indifference to the details. for it seems to me that it is in the details that the gospel lives, moves and has its being.

boomer what?

so the sooners got their heads handed to them last night. what a shame.

around ten on a tuesday morning

Lord, i don't want to be here right now. i hate being confined in a cubicle. i hate commodifying the gospel for mass-consumption. i hate the blatant hypocrisy that this job requires.

yet i realize that every task has something to teach and, in my better moments, i am convinced that this task is trying to teach me something about perseverance. and perseverence, unless i am mistaken, is a key to the holy and hidden heart of it all.

so Father, guide me through another never-ending eight-hour day. Jesus, teach me to be your incarnation in this place. Spirit, remind my heart of the mysterious connection between perseverance and salvation.

my heart's desire is to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. even within the confines of this damn cubicle.

yet another narcissistic note

when i was young i was terrified to be away from home. time and again i tried to leave 12505 E. 37th place for a night, and time and again i realized that i could not bear to be away. late in the evening, after my friend and i were played out, but before my parents went to sleep, the tears trapped in my eyes would start to flow and i would phone my parents in order to request a speedy return. after a time, things changed.

when i turned twelve my father went to work for american airlines. as a result, I was granted flight privileges and almost immediately became a standby vagabond. after my first trip, to spectacular, sophisticated cincinnati, i was hooked. i loved to visit other cities in order to see how they did life. after carefully observing the little distinctions that identified each city, such as the type-a professionalism of d.c., the suburban indulgence of dallas, the multiculturalism of toronto and the religious rhythms of assisi, i longed to incarnate these distinctions in my life. as a result of this longing, i found myself constantly on the go. charleston, south carolina, nice, france, vienna, austria were not merely destinations. rather, they were tutors that shaped the way i thought about both the world and my place in it. but, after a time, things changed.

after returning from our extended vacation i have realized that my vagabond instincts have vanished much like my beloved standby status. i now find it difficult to be away from beverly for more than six days and when my plane touches down at logan or manchester i feel a palpable sense of relief. after nine years of wandering i have found my way home. i believe that beverly, massachusetts is the place where my physical geography and spiritual geography intersect. i can no longer look without, to the cities and other ports of call for hints about who i am or who i need to be. Rather, it is here in Beverly that i will be who i already am. it is on this canvas that my life will be expressed. i pray that my beloved city is better for it.