Terry Chapman's - Sabbath Journey

A poem about discernment

Mother's Quilt

Cool morning mist
Floating over the pond
Cotton batting yielding
To Mother's invitation

Pay attention to the
Patches of story
Soon to be woven
By Her nimble fingers

The thin threads
Of desire effortlessly
Run through
Needle's impossible eye

Sheet of muslin
Ground of being
Floated across
the Quilter's table

And then batting is
Spread and lovingly
smoothed to become
The comforting in-between

Patches of color
Each telling a story
Red's passions
Gray's doubts

Green's invitation
Blue's cleansing
And dark shades too
Are formed into a mosaic

Now comes the miracle
When She pushes the
Needle through one patch
And then the other

Though soft batting
And then muslin
Back again and again
With gentle practiced precision

The fine stitches
Bind together love's
Wild narrative into
One story that when

The restless sojourner
Pulls over chilled shoulders
Sinks into a warm
And comfortable rest

Going Down

A reflection on Ephesians 3:16-21

and

Jeff Beck’s tune “Going Down”

I pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through God’s Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, 

so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. 

. . . and Amen

granting

the inner bowl

made strong

and expansive

breadth

ever widening

deepening

lengthening

to “comprehend”

katalabesthai (greek)

“to be down getting”

way down

deep down

underneath the

thinking and doing

down to the place

where the mind

sinks into the heart

and is held there

like a child in her

mother’s arms

down to the place

where grasping

hands rest gently on

the lap palms 

out softly holding

the earth's breath

down to the place

where feet

linger long enough

for love’s

roots to grow 

between the toes

way down

deep down

below the basement

with all its plumbing

that carries the

water to the thirsty world

way way down

underneath 

the church’s foundation

where unexplored

caverns and streams

hold stories untold

I’m going down

down, down, down

down down

it is not

asking too much

of the one

who gives
the invitation

the end and beginning of words

along the path 

the poet picks words

from the bushes

like sweet ripe fruit

that sustains him

on the long journey

then one day the 

path ends on the verge of

transformation where 

there are no words 

for the picking

the bush now a dream

have courage poet

linger here 

thy path marked by corporal 

stones will reappear in time

with new fruit from which

you will squeeze out drops

of the sun’s guiding light

inspired field of connection

Speaking of "connectionalism", I love this post from a mentor of mine, Otto Scharmer, whose book Theory U and teaching, is foundational for my thinking. (Emphasis mine)  I so desperately long for new "fields of inspired connection" within our church.  The time is ripe for us all to be open to the Spirit who creates these fields.  I really get the sense that this is what the PC(USA) has to offer the world.... if we can find our way.

igniting fields of inspired connection

Monday, March 29th, 2010 | Uncategorized

I just spent an amazing week here at MIT with a group of 30 young leaders from all sectors of Indonesian society: deputy ministers and top civil servants of several ministries, mayors, governors of small regions, CEOs of medium-sized companies, editors of major newspapers and TV news programs, deans of three major universities, members of the national and regional parliaments, leaders of environmental and human rights NGOs, and so on. An amazing group.

With 230 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and has the world’s largest population of Muslims. Spread over 17,000 islands, it takes 10 hours of flying time to from one end of the country to the other. Indonesia is a bit like our whole planet wrapped into a single country: it has every type of conflict that you can imagine (religious, gender, class, ethnic, colonial –you name it). A real microcosm of our planet. Given this complexity, no wonder the leadership challenges are daunting. The challenge is to transform the relationships between the three sectors (government, business, civic sector) from mistrust to trust, from blaming and blocking to system-wide cooperation, innovation, and change.

What was so amazing about this week was watching how the group (and the relationships between sectors) progressed on that journey of transformation. This week was the beginning of a ten-month (U process) innovation journey with this group that will involve deep sensing, connecting to source (presencing), and exploring the future through prototyping new forms of collaboration.

I have guided two other tri-sector groups through a similar ten-month transformative leadership journey. What has struck me most is that, even years later, the inspired field of connection and collaboration among them is still as alive and vibrant as ever. We have seen some major innovations from these groups already. More innovations will follow. To me it feels as if we are touching the deeper power of human evolution and creativity. Once they touch that deeper place, there is NOTHING on earth that such a group can’t do. That’s how it feels, anyway. Since we are now in the process of co-creating similar platforms and programs for China, Brazil, and some other places, I wonder where all this will lead us. Will these new fields of connection be able to generate new forms of global collaboration and governance? Have you seen similar developments anywhere? Have you experienced fields of inspired connection that change how we relate to each other, to our context, and to ourselves?

Connectionalism for the emerging church

What wisdom can be found in the intersection of emergent and mainline?  

A core value that Presbyterians hold is that of “connectionalism”.   The discovery or rediscovery the nature of this connectionalism is, I think, at the heart of the matter.  

Previously held models of connection were based mostly on local initiatives, small story contexts, and homogeneous conversation partners.  The glue that held the PC(USA) together has been mostly institutionally based polity and judicatory structures.  This seemed to work pretty well until the middle of the last century when the world began to shift.  The scaffolding of this structure remains intact but the building that it once supported is going through a major renovation.  Like the anonymous poet said, “I thought the fire was out.  I stirred the ashes and burnt my finger.”  This core value of connectionalism can be a wonderful gift to the emerging world, IF we can find a way to change the scaffolding to fit the emerging structure.  

This new structure, or emerging structure, is the gift that can be offered to the PC(USA) institution.  Here are a few aspects of a new connectionalism that I think can once again become a core value and gift to the wider church.

1. Connectionalism fueled by networking technologies creating new opportunities to engage with “others” beyond small geographic, cultural, and theological contexts.

2. Connectionalism opened up by an emerging epistemological humility.  Emerging folks are more comfortable with questions than answers, conversation than conversion, dialogue than dogma.  Emerging followers of Jesus have an increasing capacity to suspend judgement when faced with what appear to be conflicting world views.

3. Connectionalism in the emerging context is forged in the crucible of life and grounded real life situations. With some of the scaffolding of a previous way of being together removed by virtue of an emerging entrepreneurial spirit new ways of seeking justice and peace in the world will help nurture a new connectionalism.

4. Connectionalism informed by new discoveries in the world of social technologies that posit a connectionism inherent in God’s created order.  For instance, Spiritual Direction, Theory U, Art of Convening, Collective Wisdom etc.  

“We believe there exists a field of collective consciousness — often seen and expressed through metaphor — that is real and influential, yet invisible. When we come into alignment with this field, there is a deeper understanding of our connection with others, with life, and with a source of collective wisdom. We are calling into awareness this field of collective consciousness and invite you to join us in building this discipline of collective wisdom, its study and practice.”  (From:  The Power of Collective Wisdom and the trap of collective folly, by Briskin, Erickson, Ott and Callanan.)

I hope these few thoughts can help us explore the intersection of what was and what will be in in our life together in the PC(USA).  

8th day art project videos

A project of co-creation

KNOWING - OPEN MIND 

RELATING - OPEN HEART

TRUSTING - OPEN WILL

growing in my role as convener

I was asked to convene a 6 hour gathering with representatives from 3 Presbyteries [groups of between 45 & 60 PC(USA) churches] for the purpose of exploring shared ministries. After I sent out the design for the day which was built on the Art of Convening model one Presbytery, already quite tentative in their initial commitment, pulled out, questioning how the design would produce the needed results.  One other individual participant pulled out because they couldn’t see how the 6 hours spent together would produce "real “deliverables."”  Ten people came to the gathering.

We spent the morning, focusing on the intent of the gathering, creating a container with several rounds of stringing the beads in addition to an open community circle focused on five generative questions.  Initially it felt like there was good energy in the room although one of the “participants” spent the time drawing a cartoon on the paper table cloth. .  . which felt to me like a signal to the group that he wanted to get on with the “"real” business."

After lunch it felt like the positive energy began to slip away.  I was conscious of how a few remarks can shift the energy.  A few examples:

“"That’s (a suggested new paradigm for mission) nothing new, just another fad by a different name.  We've always done this... just by a different name."…”

Then, on several occasions,  when the silence seemed particularly generative someone would proclaimed a proverbial tidbit of wisdom.  I can’t remember what it was but something long the lines of … “"Those who_____ find themselves _____.”"  Ok, interesting but disconnected.

There were many positive movements and an increasing openness to the possibilities, and in the last half hour a breakthrough that will move us to the next step in our partnership.

I found myself struggling to hold, internally and externally, the container of possibilities.  But I did not respond, at least consciously, to this frustration.  I just let it happen.  In other words I did not assume responsibility to confront or take upon myself, what I perceived as “constrictive” energies.  I just noticed it and wondered about how it would effect the group.  After I wondered how effective I was in this.

At the end of the time I felt exhausted and spent an hour lying down and revisiting my core values and intention (Like the in the Canteen poem).  I then felt refreshed and renewed but sad when I considered how much resistance there is in the world, some of which I know resides in me. (That's when I wrote the reflection about the tears in a bottle...)

I think that I need to hone my awareness, understanding and skills when it comes to holding the container (inner and outer) wide open in the presence of resistance.

Bruce Reyes-Chow PC (USA) Moderator responds to "exile plan post"

Terry - Thanks for such a thoughtful reflection and push back. Totally hear you and on some days, right there with you. But . . . beyond even the Presbyterian things, I have had too many friends/colleagues that have found that the PC(USA) is not a place they can be fully who they are as GLBT pastors. I very much understand that need to NOT have to be fighting all the time. And while I am not sure that those who are talking about new structures would see themselves in the same light, I do know that there are many who feel like they are now in a place where they cannot be who God is calling them to fully be.

When it comes to Presbyterian rifts, I have to trust that people are discerning God's calling on their lives as individuals and congregations. If they should choose to leave, we find gracious AND just ways to honor the past, present and future of particular place. Yes, I grieve when a church chooses to live, but at the same time, if relationships hamper any growing into who God intends, then I can rest in the hope that some realignment will free all of us.

My two cents.

no rest for the weary

 

resurrection - insurrection

As I begin to shape a sermon for Sunday I'm holding two texts together.

Luke 6:17-26 & 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Beatitudes and Resurrection

Pete Rollins take a shot at holding these together -