I haven't been up for blogging lately. It's hard to struggle to do something you once found such joy and even healing in. Blogging used to be a tool in which I could find myself in. More recently it has become a tool for others to find myself in – a direction that has sapped my true voice and stolen my creativity. I am sorry for this.
I feel as though I have been underground lately, jealously guarding time and energy for myself and my family that typically is spent on others and community. It has been a time of rest and a time of rediscovery. The voice of God in my ear had become silenced by the much louder voice of others. I have been relearning to hear God's voice and rediscover a sense of calling – that which I cannot do, which I cannot walk away from. These (re)discoveries is what will occupy this space in coming days.
Not for anyone else, but for me. Because I need to hear myself think and to see the crazy thoughts running through my mind on a screen.
Tomorrow night (9/22) is turning out to be a big one for those of us who have found place within the Symbol Communities. Symbol is going public tomorrow night. We've always been inclusive, but also always met in homes, which we've realized, communicates something other than inclusion to the outsider. So we've rented space in an art gallery in Downtown Mesa. If you'd like to participate, you can find the details at the Symbol website.
It's also big because it symbolizes our stepping into the middle of the city to rub shoulders with the "dirty". It also initiates a new public responsibility to actually be the people we've talked of for 9 months – people who live, act, & speak as symbols of the king and his kingdom. We longed for this for a while. Our hope and prayer is that we are up to the task. Our biggest fear – that we'll screw it up only to become yet another church focused more on ourselves than those all around who wish to meet the King.
I've posted some pictures on Flickr of some recent events.
First there's some pictures of the Symbol September Common Meal which we moved to a park in central Mesa in an attempt to extend the hospitality and generosity to those outside of our community. Pictures via Flickr
You can also find some pictures of a community garden some Symbol people started on this past weekend here.
Also last week, was the reLaunch of the Communitas Network – a network of relationships and conversations centered on the future of the church, faith, mission, and justice her in the Phoenix-area. It was a great conversation, led by Aaron Norwood of the Bridge, with a perfect crowd (about 20 of us in all), at a cozy venue. Couldn't have asked for a better night together I don't think. Thanks to all who came. Pictures via Flickr
This past weekend with the amazing people who make up Symbol, we explored our conviction as a community. What we came up with smacks of a manifesto – something I am thrilled about. Here's what we came up with:
Our expression of community must include: the poor the redemption of what it means to be “Christian” a learning of Spanish the care of the environmentas spiritual practice a belief that the present reality is as important as the future reality a kingdom theology/praxis laughter/enjoyment of each other fun being a people of action/not just talking a multigenerational community (all ages) sexually sensitivity towards the gay/lesbian community the humble pursuit of truth kids inclusivity a community that becomes a voice for the voiceless
Our expression of community must avoid: a callous/apathetic existence a cynical nature a self-focus
It will be interesting to see how this manifesto develops as we travel further down this road. I'll keep you posted
In a couple of weeks, this year's Soliton Sessions will be taking place in Ventura, CA. This event has been the highlight of my year for the past two years as it has become a gathering space for relationships and dialogue that have challenged and inspired deeply. Those involved in Soliton represent a variety of voices (both from the US and from the UK), a variety of experiences, and a variety of perspectives that create a diverse and dimensional experience. Not to mention that these people of Soliton are some of the most hospitable, generous, and radical people you'll meet. Look into headed to Ventura August 9-12 for this annual pilgrimage.
I am sad to say that I am unable to make it this year, but was able to catch this year's earlier event in Northern Ireland. For more information about the Sessions or about the Soliton network, visit their website at http://www.solitonnetwork.org.
Calling a Lifechurch.tv experience virtual seems a bit odd since even their in-person services are mostly virtual (they have multiple campuses/services in multiple states that broadcast the sermon – performed at lifechurch HQ in Oklahoma City – via satellite). But this past Sunday a few friends and I crashed the truly virtual LifeChurch.tv service in Second Life – an online, virtual world with 7.5 million inhabitants and a real economy. Kester in London and David here in Phoenix joined me for the experience. Here's a short pictorial account of our experience: (click on the images for a more detailed look)
With no sign of Kester in the lobby, David and I grab some coffee and step into the sanctuary. Looks almost identical to the three other Lifechurch.tv campuses I have seen. There's not a ton of people, but more than I expected. The worship is piped in live via Quicktime. People are raising their hands and shouting praises via the chat tools.
David and I make our way to the left-front of the room to get a better view. Most people are sitting (with the usual 4-seat buffer), some are standing with their hands raised. David (whose second life identity is a white haired hobbit? named Sonipa Jie) gets bored and shows me some karate moves he learned. Still no Kester.
We take our seats in the front row and look around. I am still holding on to my Lifechurch.tv coffee cup unsure of how to put it down. This is a good angle to catch a glimpse at the variety of worshippers here.
Not even through one song, David and I become tired of just sitting while watching singing heads. We rush the stage and stand around there for a few minutes. No one bothers us, no one even says anything to us. We've heard these SecondLifechurch.tv services often get disrupted by streakers. The threat we pose is insignificant when compared to nudity. So we hop off stage and after a few minutes, leave Second Life altogether.
An hour later:
I log back on to see if maybe Kester got the time wrong. I meet up with him behind the church building . He isn't wearing any clothes. He says he was at the service on time, but got kicked out because of his nudity. Being new to Second Life, he has no idea how to put on his clothes.
After a few minutes of talking about the experience, some others approach us and ask Kester to put on some clothes. He puts on a pair of underwear. Strangely enough, they are satisfied with this much clothing and leave us alone.
At Symbol this weekend, we explored the concept of dirt and how we so easily label others as either clean or dirty and then erect boundaries between the dirty and the clean. It's clear that these boundaries existed in Jesus' day, but he always managed to erase the boundaries every chance he could. Our time together forced us each to recognize the dirt boundaries we allow to exist between us and those around us and to confess those boundaries. A cool thing we did was confessed via a great little free service called Wiffiti. Wiffiti allows you to create a screen that people can text to and the message get displayed live. It's a free service and it worked out great for us. Check out "The Dirt Confessional" here and add to it if you want.
We're exploring concepts of dirt this weekend at Symbol. We all have our own ideas of what/who is "dirty" and what/who is "clean" and we begin to create boundaries that separate that which is clean (we like to think we fit in the category)from that which is clean. The interesting thing is that while these boundaries were common in Jesus time, he seems to cross these boundaries consistently. He touched the untouchable, he spoke with the unspeakable, he broke cultural taboos, and challenged dirt boundaries at every turn.
This is not an easy subject and Saturday will include both a time to become aware of these boundaries we've created and a time of confession. And as usual….there will be some time to wrestle and process with it all collectively in dialogue.
If this interests you, you are welcome to join in. You'll find the details on the Symbol Communities site. If you decide to "get dirty" with us, we'll see you there.
Taco Day Dos is history. The annual taco marathon was a huge success and last year's numbers were crushed. Here's the final totals:
110 people 406 tacos $930 raised for charity
Thanks to all who came and helped support Save the Family, those who helped in the kitchen, and special thanks to my beautiful (and amazing) wife, Kelli for being the brains behind the operation.
I've posted some pictures on 
We're exploring concepts of dirt this weekend at 
