My son remarked last night that almost all of his Michigan-born friends continually complain about living in Michigan, and can't wait to move somewhere else. Coming from Maryland, where people are rabidly proud of their Orioles, crab cakes and Baltimore (even though it's a lot like it's pictured on "The Wire"), this continues to surprise him. "Even my New Jersey friends love New Jersey, and everyone knows that it's a hell hole," he said.
No, all his Michigan friends want to move to Florida.
Which is funny, because my younger sister has lived in Florida most of her life. And she hates it. She calls her town of Bradenton "Bradentucky" and says that every time she gets on a plane to go somewhere else, she thinks, "At last! I'm going to civilization!"
She wants to move to San Diego or L.A. I imagine out there, there are people who hate California, too ... for its wildfires, pollution, traffic, pomposity, etc. I bet some of them want to move to that paradise on Earth, Hawai'i.
Which is funny, because people who live in Hawai'i can also start to hate it. In her new book, "Acedia and Me: Marriage, Monks and a Writer's Life," Kathleen Norris (who grew up in Hawai'i, and spends a good part of her life there now, caring for her aging mother) writes about a terrible phenomenon that the island dwellers experience.
Many people stationed in Hawai'i with the military or large corporations come to feel a nagging contempt for the place. They hate the ocean because it reminds them that they are living on an island in the most isolated island chain on earth. They dismiss paradise as "the rock," and refer to their sad condition with perverse pride as "rock fever."
Norris sees this alienation from place as a symptom of a spiritual illness that prevents us from being happy where we are, that cuts us off from joy in our lives, joy in our relationships, and joy in God.
Look outside. This is one of the ugliest sorts of days Michigan has to offer. Can you see the beauty in it? Can you figure out a way to love this pleasant land and not despise it? To be at peace where you are planted?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Addendum ... If They Only Knew How Hip We Are!
As a follow-up to the previous post, I note this blog entry by Brett McCracken, who asks "Are you a Christian Hipster?"
The sort of Christian he describes comes from the new "emergent" movement in young, GenX and GenY Protestantism. These younger folks are eschewing the megachurches of their Baby Boom parents to re-invent or reclaim a Christianity that, well, to me it looks awfully Episcopal. See what you think:
Things they don’t like:
Christian hipsters don’t like megachurches, altar calls, and door-to-door evangelism. They don’t really like John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart or youth pastors who talk too much about Braveheart. In general, they tend not to like Mel Gibson and have come to really dislike The Passion for being overly bloody and maybe a little sadistic. They don’t like people like Pat Robertson, who on The 700 Club famously said that America should “take Hugo Chavez out”; and they don’t particularly like The 700 Club either, except to make fun of it. They don’t like evangelical leaders who get too involved in politics, such as James Dobson or Jerry Falwell, who once said of terrorists that America should “blow them all away in the name of the Lord.” They don’t like TBN, PAX, or Joel Osteen. They do have a wry fondness for Benny Hinn, however.
Christian hipsters tend not to like contemporary Christian music (CCM), or Christian films (except ironically), or any non-book item sold at Family Christian Stores. They hate warehouse churches or churches with American flags on stage, or churches with any flag on stage, really. They prefer “Christ follower” to “Christian” and can’t stand the phrases “soul winning” or “non-denominational,” and they could do without weird and awkward evangelistic methods including (but not limited to): sock puppets, ventriloquism, mimes, sign language, “beach evangelism,” and modern dance. Surprisingly, they don’t really have that big of a problem with old school evangelists like Billy Graham and Billy Sunday and kind of love the really wild ones like Aimee Semple McPherson.
Things they like:
Christian hipsters like music, movies, and books that are well-respected by their respective artistic communities—Christian or not. They love books like Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider, God’s Politics by Jim Wallis, and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. They tend to be fans of any number of the following authors: Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Wendell Berry, Thomas Merton, John Howard Yoder, Walter Brueggemann, N.T. Wright, Brennan Manning, Eugene Peterson, Anne Lamott, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Henri Nouwen, Soren Kierkegaard, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Annie Dillard, Marilynne Robison, Chuck Klosterman, David Sedaris, or anything ancient and/or philosophically important.
Christian hipsters love thinking and acting Catholic, even if they are thoroughly Protestant. They love the Pope, liturgy, incense, lectio divina, Lent, and timeless phrases like “Thanks be to God” or “Peace of Christ be with you.” They enjoy Eastern Orthodox churches and mysterious iconography, and they love the elaborate cathedrals of Europe (even if they are too museum-like for hipster tastes). Christian hipsters also love taking communion with real Port, and they don’t mind common cups. They love poetry readings, worshipping with candles, and smoking pipes while talking about God. Some of them like smoking a lot of different things.
It's clear that the Episcopal ethos has much to offer the rising generations. So what are we doing to tell them that?
+ Kit
The sort of Christian he describes comes from the new "emergent" movement in young, GenX and GenY Protestantism. These younger folks are eschewing the megachurches of their Baby Boom parents to re-invent or reclaim a Christianity that, well, to me it looks awfully Episcopal. See what you think:
Things they don’t like:
Christian hipsters don’t like megachurches, altar calls, and door-to-door evangelism. They don’t really like John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart or youth pastors who talk too much about Braveheart. In general, they tend not to like Mel Gibson and have come to really dislike The Passion for being overly bloody and maybe a little sadistic. They don’t like people like Pat Robertson, who on The 700 Club famously said that America should “take Hugo Chavez out”; and they don’t particularly like The 700 Club either, except to make fun of it. They don’t like evangelical leaders who get too involved in politics, such as James Dobson or Jerry Falwell, who once said of terrorists that America should “blow them all away in the name of the Lord.” They don’t like TBN, PAX, or Joel Osteen. They do have a wry fondness for Benny Hinn, however.
Christian hipsters tend not to like contemporary Christian music (CCM), or Christian films (except ironically), or any non-book item sold at Family Christian Stores. They hate warehouse churches or churches with American flags on stage, or churches with any flag on stage, really. They prefer “Christ follower” to “Christian” and can’t stand the phrases “soul winning” or “non-denominational,” and they could do without weird and awkward evangelistic methods including (but not limited to): sock puppets, ventriloquism, mimes, sign language, “beach evangelism,” and modern dance. Surprisingly, they don’t really have that big of a problem with old school evangelists like Billy Graham and Billy Sunday and kind of love the really wild ones like Aimee Semple McPherson.
Things they like:
Christian hipsters like music, movies, and books that are well-respected by their respective artistic communities—Christian or not. They love books like Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider, God’s Politics by Jim Wallis, and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. They tend to be fans of any number of the following authors: Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Wendell Berry, Thomas Merton, John Howard Yoder, Walter Brueggemann, N.T. Wright, Brennan Manning, Eugene Peterson, Anne Lamott, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Henri Nouwen, Soren Kierkegaard, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Annie Dillard, Marilynne Robison, Chuck Klosterman, David Sedaris, or anything ancient and/or philosophically important.
Christian hipsters love thinking and acting Catholic, even if they are thoroughly Protestant. They love the Pope, liturgy, incense, lectio divina, Lent, and timeless phrases like “Thanks be to God” or “Peace of Christ be with you.” They enjoy Eastern Orthodox churches and mysterious iconography, and they love the elaborate cathedrals of Europe (even if they are too museum-like for hipster tastes). Christian hipsters also love taking communion with real Port, and they don’t mind common cups. They love poetry readings, worshipping with candles, and smoking pipes while talking about God. Some of them like smoking a lot of different things.
It's clear that the Episcopal ethos has much to offer the rising generations. So what are we doing to tell them that?
+ Kit
Whither Christianity?
A survey released today, The American Religious Identification Survey, shows a dramatic drop in the last 18 years of people who identify themselves as Christian. In 1990, 86 percent of those surveyed said they were Christian. That number is now 76 percent. Of those who say they are Christian, fewer are willing to identify with any denomination at all. As USA TODAY put it, "When it comes to religion, the USA is now the land of the freelancers."
This survey describes something that many of us in organized religion have observed for years now. Our society is becoming increasingly hostile to religion, or simply ignorant of it. In 1992, Episcopal priest and author Loren Mead wrote "The Once and Future Church", describing a world that is post-Christian, a world in which the old meanings of religion and religious institutions have broken down, a world which more closely resembles the mission field of the earliest apostles than at any time in history.
Word of this shift has not, by and large, made its way into the local parishes and congregations of the United States. Most of us have not noticed that our peers, our co-workers, the students we teach, our neighbors, may not have any knowledge of Christianity, or any interest in it at all. We wonder why birthday parties, soccer games and other events get scheduled on Sunday mornings. In large part, it's because Sunday is more available because many people have no affiliation with, or interest in, a local church.
So we work under old assumptions that no longer apply to the world we now inhabit. Assumptions like, "they'll all come back when they start having kids." Assumptions like, "we need to teach people how to be Episcopalians." Assumptions like, "it's rude to talk about faith or invite people to share my church."
What is happening in our world is unprecedented, and it is happening fast, as the survey reveals. This is not even about the survival of the Episcopal Church. This is about learning how to share our Christian faith, our belief in Jesus Christ as Lord, with people who no longer understand what this means, because they have never been raised in the faith.
Look around our own parish, and make an estimate of the average age of our members. Look at the average age of newcomers who seek us out. I will tell you quite frankly, they are Baby Boomers and older. We have some younger families, some younger members, but they are not here in the numbers they were ... twenty years ago, say ... when Baby Boomers were young parents, teaching Sunday School and running committees.
When I ponder the future of All Saints, I honestly wonder where we will be in 20 or 30 years. We are a wonderful community with much to share. Our faith in God and our love for one another has sustained and supported us for 55 years. But unless we learn to share this faith and this community with generations yet to come, generations who find us increasingly meaningless in their world, I wonder what will happen to this parish, to the Episcopal Church, and to American Christianity in 50 years.
Because as the survey shows, this is not simply an All Saints issue. It's not even just an Episcopal Church issue. This is a national issue that reflects the decline of religious participation across America.
One thing is for certain. The old assumptions no longer apply. The old way of seeking and incorporating new members no longer applies. The old way of speaking, or more likely, NOT speaking, about our faith no longer applies.
What do you think?
+ Kit
This survey describes something that many of us in organized religion have observed for years now. Our society is becoming increasingly hostile to religion, or simply ignorant of it. In 1992, Episcopal priest and author Loren Mead wrote "The Once and Future Church", describing a world that is post-Christian, a world in which the old meanings of religion and religious institutions have broken down, a world which more closely resembles the mission field of the earliest apostles than at any time in history.
Word of this shift has not, by and large, made its way into the local parishes and congregations of the United States. Most of us have not noticed that our peers, our co-workers, the students we teach, our neighbors, may not have any knowledge of Christianity, or any interest in it at all. We wonder why birthday parties, soccer games and other events get scheduled on Sunday mornings. In large part, it's because Sunday is more available because many people have no affiliation with, or interest in, a local church.
So we work under old assumptions that no longer apply to the world we now inhabit. Assumptions like, "they'll all come back when they start having kids." Assumptions like, "we need to teach people how to be Episcopalians." Assumptions like, "it's rude to talk about faith or invite people to share my church."
What is happening in our world is unprecedented, and it is happening fast, as the survey reveals. This is not even about the survival of the Episcopal Church. This is about learning how to share our Christian faith, our belief in Jesus Christ as Lord, with people who no longer understand what this means, because they have never been raised in the faith.
Look around our own parish, and make an estimate of the average age of our members. Look at the average age of newcomers who seek us out. I will tell you quite frankly, they are Baby Boomers and older. We have some younger families, some younger members, but they are not here in the numbers they were ... twenty years ago, say ... when Baby Boomers were young parents, teaching Sunday School and running committees.
When I ponder the future of All Saints, I honestly wonder where we will be in 20 or 30 years. We are a wonderful community with much to share. Our faith in God and our love for one another has sustained and supported us for 55 years. But unless we learn to share this faith and this community with generations yet to come, generations who find us increasingly meaningless in their world, I wonder what will happen to this parish, to the Episcopal Church, and to American Christianity in 50 years.
Because as the survey shows, this is not simply an All Saints issue. It's not even just an Episcopal Church issue. This is a national issue that reflects the decline of religious participation across America.
One thing is for certain. The old assumptions no longer apply. The old way of seeking and incorporating new members no longer applies. The old way of speaking, or more likely, NOT speaking, about our faith no longer applies.
What do you think?
+ Kit
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Author Thomas Lynch Comes to All Saints
Michigan native, poet, author and undertaker Thomas Lynch will launch our Lenten educational series on the spirituality of the end of life.Author of "The Undertaking: Tales from the Dismal Trade" as well as other books of essays and poems, Lynch has a deep, yet whimisical approach to the craft of tending to the dead and their families. We are delighted that he'll join us at All Saints.
Bring a friend, because all are welcome to this event. Tomorrow night, Wednesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. in the main sanctuary. The evening actually begins with a service of Healing and Holy Eucharist at 5:30 p.m. in the chapel, followed by our Lenten soup supper at 6 p.m. in the Undercroft.
See you there!
+ Kit
Monday, March 2, 2009
I am an Episcopalian ... Are You?
On Ash Wednesday, the national church launched a website called I Am An Episcopalian. Here, short videos offer real Episcopalians a chance to tell their stories about this church and what it means to each of them.
The site offers a chance to upload videos from other Episcopalians, which will be reviewed prior to posting. What might each of us at All Saints say about being Episcopalian? What stories would we tell? Would anyone be interested in posting videos of our stories to the iamanepiscopalian website?
The site offers a chance to upload videos from other Episcopalians, which will be reviewed prior to posting. What might each of us at All Saints say about being Episcopalian? What stories would we tell? Would anyone be interested in posting videos of our stories to the iamanepiscopalian website?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Ash Wednesday
from "Ash Wednesday" by T.S. Eliot
This is the time of tension between dying and birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross
Between blue rocks
But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away
Let the other yew be shaken and reply.
Blessèd sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Pancakes, Paczki and King Cake
Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), a day to eat and eat and eat, prior to the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, when, of course, we will all fast all day long ... right?Many cultures have ways of celebrating this last moment before six weeks of fasting and abstinence. In Brazil and the Caribbean, there is Carnival, with parades and partying in a very serious fashion. Mardi Gras in New Orleans also taps the party spirit with its parades, and multicolored King Cake (with a variety of small charms baked inside to bring the finders an assortment of luck in the years ahead).
But for those of us from Northern European cultures, the key element of Fat Tuesday seems to be fried food ... paczki, a deep-fried jelly donut from Poland ... faschnacht, a deep-fried donut from Germany ... or pancakes.
The tradition was to use up all the fat, butter and sugar in the home prior to the fast of Lent. Apparently, all these cold-weather cultures decided donuts and pancakes was the most efficient way to do that. This has led to strange manifestations in our culture ... National Pancake Day at IHOP tomorrow, and the appearance of paczki in all our local groceries.
But the most important cultural manifestation from our perspective is the annual Church Pancake Supper. We will celebrate our Fat Tuesday tradition at All Saints at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the undercroft with more pancakes than you can cram into your face ... also activities for the children and the burning of last year's palm branches to make this year's ashes for Ash Wednesday.
Come and pig out with us tomorrow. And don't eat too many paczki, or you won't have room for pancakes!
+ Kit
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