Thomas Merton's Prayer

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

From Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude," heard during sermon this morning, found online here.

Praying at the Pump

Yes, I believe God cares about the nitty-gritty details of our lives. Yes, I believe He is our provider and that His provision for us is seen in tangible, often startling ways, especially the more we learn to rely on Him and not on ourselves. So why does this strike me as so, so odd?

"As cars surged steadily down the road in Toledo, Ohio, a familiar melody rose from the circle of people gathered beside the gas pumps at the Exxon-Mobil station on the corner.

'He's got the gas prices, in his hands. He's got the gas prices, in his hands. . . ' "

That's right. Prayer walking around the pumps. Taking on the gas companies through prayer. Crazy? Radical faith? Well-intentioned but somewhat simplistic? It's pretty obvious that our current reliance on oil in the U.S. needs to change and that the gas prices are the most visible reminder of that, but I'm not sure that prayer without policy is the best plan of attack. A lack of faith on my part? Perhaps. Maybe I'm just reacting against the re-written praise chorus ...

[Note: I came across this online article via (surprise, surprise) TitusOneNine.]

GAFCON

Anglicanism has been all over the news this week due to the meetings occurring in Jerusalem known as GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference). Many see GAFCON as the conservative "alternate" to the Lambeth conference, the gathering of Anglican bishops from all over the world that occurs only every 10 years and will convene again this coming July.

A lot of controversy surrounds both conferences. The rumors swirl especially vigorously around GAFCON, for many suspect that the more conservative church leaders meeting in Jerusalem are determined to form another Anglican communion in protest against what conservatives see as the "wayward" beliefs and practices of large sections of the Western Anglican church (such as the Episcopal Church in the States).

Though the conflict over ordination of homosexual bishops in the Anglican church gets top billing in the news, the dividing issues in global Anglicanism are far deeper and more expansive than this one issue. Here's one helpful link that compares conservative and liberal views on a number of points: "Anglican Rift: Conservative v. Liberal."

NOTE: This link is from BBC News. It doesn't quite get at another, perhaps THE, core issue between liberals and conservatives in the Anglican church: the doctrine of Scripture, as well as the related issue of authority in the church. The two "sides" seem to take fundamentally different approaches to these central questions, which is more concerning to me than debates (though legitimate) over morality and who-should-be-ordained.

Another link: GAFCON photoblog (found it on TitusOneNine)

[Cartoon from http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/9509/.]

Have YOU been left behind?

Man oh man, I'm speechless. Check out this link that I heard about on NPR -- apparently, the folks on this website figured out how to let you know if the Rapture has occurred without your knowledge, or how to reach out to your loved ones one last time if you are "raptured" and they are not. Unfortunately, it seems to be for real!

http://www.youvebeenleftbehind.com/

A Rough Sonnet . . . Almost.

A modicum of space amid the mess
of life's cruel jokes and winter's circumstance--
Reflections on a lake, though smooth as glass,
when winds rush in will twist, distort the true
depiction of the world, erase the clear
connection from the image to its mate.
No, stillness is what's needed for the eye
to gaze upon the lake and see the sky;
and solid truth will melt and disappear
when gales glaze the water, dark with fear.

~ARH 4/1/08~

Learning to Float

Holy, You are still holy, even when I don't understand Your ways. Holy, You are still holy, even when my circumstances don't change. (More Rita Springer...)

Immeasurable comfort -- that the God of the universe is in control. Even in the stereotypical-but-real waves of life -- the waves that crash suddenly on your head and flood your eyes and ears and nose with acrid salt water, or drag you under and into the ocean-swirls until you have no idea which way is up or down, or hurl you out onto the burning sand as you choke on bits of seaweed -- even then, I am not out of God's reach. Even then, I am in His charge; even then I can depend upon Him for what I need. How simple the truth! How hard the reality. How impossible it seems -- to cease my frantic struggle to control the waves and learn to float on the surface of the deep, upheld by the One to whom the waters are as solid ground!

Aaaaaannnnnd.... we're back!

Whew! Much has happened since my last post, in fact, so much that I don't know quite how to resume blogging! Since my last post, in no particular order, I have...

- Traveled to 3 new (to me, of course) countries, with an hour layover in a 4th
- Spent a week in a Tuscan hamlet
- Improved my German accent
- Climbed the leaning tower of Pisa
- Climbed up the Duomo in Florence
- Climbed up various other historic tall buildings ("we like to go up things...")
- Finished my third year in seminary
- Began an internship
- Completed my Starbucks training... again (not much has changed in a year)
- Acquired a yen for sparkling mineral water
- Been hampered by shyness... but not for long
- Decided on a thesis topic
- Spent hours of amusement dialoguing with a friend in a poor Ukrainian accent
- Stolen part of the Venice lagoon... ("in our pants")
- Formed a precious "attachment"
- Missed the first half of the "first dance" at a wedding reception, though technically seated in the same room
- Been introduced to patbingsu
- Spontaneously prayed with good friends for two hours
- Nearly been evacuated from my apartment at 1 a.m. because of CO levels
- Discovered that rain got hold of our itinerary... and used it against us
- Danced in the rain
- Gladly received new neighbors
- Said farewell to close friends
- Gained new appreciation for the Doxology
- Continued to overuse ellipses...
- Endless etceteras

Perhaps every month could generate such a list for each of us. Life is rich - and certainly quirky at times! As the rhythm of summer begins, I can't help but wonder: what will the next month bring?