A Month Old Thought

Just as I was about to delete the following statement from a report I wrote a month ago, I decided to paste it here as it continues to sum up so much of what I'm thinking and hoping to be rebirthed from. It also reminds me of the Dessert Fathers and Mothers of old.

Most persons in the U.S. are silently and unconsciously worshipping the idol of self-autonomy, consumption and technological progress. This quiet religion may be the single-most difficult challenge for the Gospel -- mainly because nearly all of us who are attempting to bear the news of the Gospel are also either unaware of our allegiances ourselves, or simply overwhelmed and underpowered.

Goings On

Confession: I did, in fact, sneak onto the internet a couple of times this past week. But the overall effect is still very much there, as I feel more freedom to "noodle around" with other things in the absence of the web surfing time. The hardest part hasn't been keeping up with other people's blogs, but not knowing whether the Stars won until the morning paper arrives.

Lent at the Abbey has been eventful and thoroughly enjoyable. We have opened up our Sunday night gathering to any and every friend we could think of, and the result has been two really fresh evenings with new and surprising faces and some energetic conversations.

We are gearing up for a big Saint Patrick's Day party on Friday. Tacks, the Boy Disaster will be performing. Homebrew will abound. The Celtic spirit will stir.

As of tomorrow, my role at Central Market will change. After two years in the bulk department as the coffee and tea specialist, I am now 20 yards across the floor in the Beer and Wine dept., training to become the beer specialist. This will hopefully result in a slight raise, but more importantly it will give me something new and exciting to learn about (something I'm already pretty passionate about) and afford me the opportunity to mix it up with some people that I already enjoy being around.

Speaking of beer, I'm pretty excited about the brew that is fermenting in the bucket right now. We are trying to pull off a Passion Fruit Wit, which is a light and refreshing Belgian-style ale, seasoned with the fruit that is most closely associated with Holy Week. If all goes well, the Abbey and its guest will have some pretty special stuff to partake of during the week of Christ's Passion.

Last and not the least bit least, Jolie and I found out on Monday that we will be having another boy! The ultrasound rendered a clear and unequivical image of the little dude's boy part, and so now we know. Connor called it right before we left for the appointment. He told us he was going to have a little brother, and he was right. We are exceedingly excited (we both laughed and cried at the same time when we saw the mini-penis), and we hope to come to some consensus about a name in the near future...

Because some of you asked . . .

Here are a few pics from our recent trip to Xcaret. Go if you ever get the chance; it's amazing.

"Targum"

Tonight I read my first written "targum," inspired from the lectionary gospel reading from Mark. It's fairly long, and has a bit of a spoken word attitude at times (that's my disclaimer). If you've got the time, give it a read and throw me a comment. I'll enjoy reading your responses next Sunday...


Mark 1:9-15 Targum

And it came to pass.
Mark’s whiplash, slide-show storytelling hurls us straight into an immediate recognition –
This tale he begins to tell is itself a piece of rising action
Smack dab in the middle of a much larger Epic.

The epic that begins with “in the beginning.”
The epic that depicts a God speaking Creation into being and saying “it is good.”
Even “it is VERY good” when He gets to the penultimate of His designs, man and womankind.

The story, hardly yet in motion, encounters the essential conflict right away –
These self-same creatures that were originally “very good” did something very bad.
In pride and pseudo-ignorance, they rejected the Creator’s best intentions
And imposed their own selfish desires, eased along by the serpent’s fruit-lubricants.

Anthropos, being cast out of God’s intimate paradise,
Goes from bad to worse in record time.
A tower, a flood, a rainbow.
A series of covenants between a swarthy and unlikely cast of characters
And the aforementioned Creator God, now speaking new possibilities directly to a few fear-stricken chosen.

To Abram – “I will make you the father of many nations and a blessing to all.”
To Moses – “I will deliver you.”
To Israel – “I will be your God and you will be My People.”

But just as before, the story goes on, the people repeatedly reject their part of the deal and test the patience and faithfulness of the Lord.
Too disgusted to speak directly any longer, God ordains certain prophets to speak on His behalf.
Harsh words. Mute response. Increasingly stern consequences.
Promised Land plundered. Israel and Judah in exile.

Efforts to rebuild Zion repetitiously end in vanity.
God is utterly silent.
Generation after generation after generation after generation after generation
After generation after generation after generation after generation after generation.
400 years of silence.

But wait! Suddenly a messenger appears.
A prophet like the days of old.
A fullback in camel’s hair to prepare the hole for the star tailback to cut through.

AND IT CAME TO PASS
In those days that Jesus came.
Mark, the stereotypical blue-collared man who’s “not one for overstatement”
Tells us all we need to know in two words – “Jesus came.”

Herein lies the meaning of the appearance of angels ;
The immaculate conception; the donkey-ride to Bethlehem;
Ceasar Augustus’ census; no room in the inn; the manger;
Shepherds; a heavenly host; wise men;
Even Yeshua’s entire boyhood in Egypt and Nazareth;
And everything he saw and said from age 0-30.

Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan.
The body of water that the ancestor Joshua was to cross over
Is now the liquid that this Joshua must be immersed within.

The Son of God has come out of the closet, as it were.
It’s public now.
Jesus’ first act, according to Mark,
Is not a miracle or a sermon or a calling of disciples.
It’s a baptism. The christening of His identity.

Kai euthus! Mark’s favorite phrase, meaning “and immediately.”
He uses it like a home-movie without a fader.
Here’s the kids playing on the beach kai euthus!
Here’s Nancy at the prom kai euthus!
Here’s Billy graduating from college.
No warning. Just a narrative judo chop.
Mark uses it 9 times in chapter one alone.
Quantum physics isn’t as new as you might think.

And immediately, coming up out of the water,
He saw, being opened, the heavens, and the spirit as a dove
Descending towards him.
And there was a voice out of the heavens
‘You are the son of Me, the beloved,
with you I am well pleased.”
Translation: it is very good. Again. Finally.

Kai euthus! And immediately the spirit drives him out
Into the wilderness.
Ten verses from now He will be driving out demons,
But first it is He that is driven into wilderness –
That place that Joshua the Elder finally managed to lead the people out of after endless years of wandering,
Is now the landscape of Christ’s first and potentially most lethal battle.

And he had been in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan
And he was among wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to him.
Again, brevity is Mark’s style.
What happened in the woods, stays in the woods.
If you want to know more, you’ll have to ask those other gospel-chroniclers.

And after John was imprisoned, Jesus came to Galilee
Proclaiming the good news of God
And saying “the time has been fulfilled
And the Kingdom of God has approached.
Repent and believe in the good news.”

So one day Jesus, a 30-year old eligible and curious bachelor,
Leaves town and gets his head pushed under the river-water
By a locust-breath-ed hermit,
Hears his Dad utter a phrase he hasn’t used in aeons,
Gets catapulted into the forest where he stairs down his arch-enemy
And then simply shows up again in his hometown.

But everything you can imagine has changed in the meantime.
Joseph and Mary’s kid drowned in the Jordan
And God’s Begotten One rose up in his stead.
A carpenter left town around six weeks ago and
The human embodiment of the Kingdom of God returned.

The time has been fulfilled for what exactly?
The conflict from Act One of the Epic is being resolved
And harmony is being restored to the cosmos.
God is speaking in the clearest possible voice.
What Adam and Eve had done
Is now being undone
In a dramatic gesture of such profound and swelling beauty
That you just might not believe it.
What is the good news?
Just told you.
How can I believe it?
Better clean the wax out of your ears
And drop some visine in your eyeballs.
If you’re willing to be real with yourself and come clean
About all the bullshit you’ve been rolling around in,
Then belief will be the first natural act you’ve ever made in your life.

Mark it down.

Observing Lent

We didn't have internet access for 5 days while we were in Mexico last week, and somehow I managed to survive! So, part of my observation of Lent this year will involve fasting from the internet. I realize that this may make certain forms of connection a tad more difficult, but I certainly don't expect any permanent relational damage to take place. Besides, I'll try to "make the rounds" on Sundays as part of the break-fast for Resurrection Day. In the meantime, here's a video to consider while I'm away.

May the Cross and Resurrection of Christ be your all in all.

Return from Xcaret

Jolie and I are back and well-rested from our brief repose in the Mayan Riviera. As opposed to our usual vacation ritual, which is to find a spot with tons to do and be as active as possible, this was a true Sabbath. We ate, laid on the beach, read books, ate some more, enjoyed simple conversations, and went to bed early. As lame as it may sound, it was great to enjoy such simplicity and peace with each other and the Creator.

Now we're back, and we turn towards Lent and the second half of pregnancy...