Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament by Ellen Davis
- Chapter 16 – “Good-faith Springs Up from the Earth: Learning Ecology from the Bible”

Thesis – The Bible equips us theologically to think ecologically about the world.

Overview

The Old Testament, and the creation narratives in particular, have a prophetic call for the church around the ecological crisis of our day. Ecology is the “study of relationships” (185) and the OT is all about our relationships – human, divine, and creation. We learn that we are humans made of humus and as such have a unique responsibility with and for the soil.  We are to “work” and “watch over” (192) the earth.  This is a call to righteousness – or right-living and right relationship – for the sake of others, particularly those who are dependent upon us.  Our right relationships then have direct implications for how we grow and eat food.  There are, not surprisingly, props given to Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson.

Quotables

“The Bible can teach us or (better, perhaps) help us to understand all the fundamentals of ecology.  The Bible can enable us to graps the depth dimensions of the ecological crisi because the ecological crisis is essentially not a technological crisis, but a theological one.  It is a massive disordering in our relationshi with God, the Creator of heaven and earth.” (185)

“The religiously resonant language of this first job description from Eden suggests the remarkable teaching that in showing proper regard for the fertile earth, we meet the two great goals of all Torah observance: serving God and protecting the week.  This indeed is Torah of the earth.” (195)

Notoable References

Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson, eds., Meeting the Expectations of the Land (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1984).

Implications

First, I need to say that reading this one chapter makes me really want to read the rest of the book.  I have a growing respect for how God interacts with Israel and creation in the Hebrew Bible.  My hunch is that this book would provide both a great overview of the OT and the implications for ecology theologically composed.  I’ve also come to hold Ellen Davis in the same mental category as Walter Brueggemann and John Goldingay as preeminent and helpful scholars and guides for the OT.

Second, I this chapter is a great foundational piece for how to conceive of our relationship to God and creation – all within the framework of a careful reading of the Bible.  One would be hard pressed to assume that this is simply a liberal, left-leaning diatribe about “saving the earth.”  Our care and tending of creation – the soil, in particular – bespeaks of our core values and beliefs in much the same way as our checking account is a theological statement about what we really believe and value.

Opening Night – Stations 1-7

Opening Night – Stations 8-14

First off, as soon as I opened the book I realized that Bonhoeffer was foundational (can I use that word?) for Rollins’ premise.  So, I stopped by 1801 Mills and grabbed a couple relevant books - Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians by Stephen R. Haynes, Lori Brandt Hale and 2 of Greg Boyd’s books, Repenting of Religion and God of the Possible (mainly the first, but have been wanting to read the other one too).

Sadly, I’m not up on my Bonhoeffer, so I’ve got some work to do.

Now, as I read the first couple chapters of Insurrection I could tell this book was the following:

• a) the real deal
• b) surprisingly accessible (more so than How (Not) to Speak of God)
• c) Explosions in the Sky would be an appropriate soundtrack to the book

That said, the push (because that’s what it feels like) to “religionless Christianity” that Bonhoeffer and Rollins are advocating is deeply compelling.  I admit that I’m still struggling to grasp the tangibleness of what that could look like.  But the drive toward peeling back the layers of accumulated religion is a good one, but one that I fear too often ends too quickly in some kind of sentimentality.  By which I mean, the nostalgia of “restorationism” that doesn’t actually restore nor move us forward.  I recognize this isn’t whatRollins (or Bonhoeffer, I reckon) are doing, but my concern is that that is how it will be appropriated by others (myself not withstanding).

The last bit to share for now is the sense that this move to Insurrection is a deeply human (that’s a good thing) endeavor.  Too often our “religionFULL Christianity” does not leave room for grief, pain, suffering, brokenness, or the like.  If the move that Rollins is driving toward would allow for this I would be very grateful.  Again, I’m wondering what that would look like in practice (in the mainline, liturgical, and mega/evangelical).

That’s it for now… more to come….

Oh, also reading (and very much enjoying) Sean Gladding’s, The Story of God, the Story of Us!

a parenting moment

When 2010 clicked over to 2011 lots of folks were making Top Ten lists.  Sarah and I were pondering what top ten parenting books we’d recommend to new parents or parents with small children (like ourselves).  Here’s our list.  What would you add?

1. Happiest Baby on the Block – seriously, the 5 S’s saved all of our lives (swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing sounds, swinging, sucking)
2. The Baby Book by Dr. Sears – and anything by the Sears family – the basics, great primer for attachment parenting
3. Siblings without Rivalry - yes, yes you can.
4. Raising your Spirited Child – for the kids who are MORE of everything!  Transitions, transitions, transitions…
5. Relationship Empowerment Parenting – We had the Balswicks for a class at Fuller.  Big takeaway – parent like scaffolding…
6. Myth of the Perfect Mother – not just for moms, we’ve seriously messed up the notion of what mothering is and can be.  This book helps frame the question and offers a new perspective.
7. No-Cry Sleep Solution – big thanks to the Odens for recommending this.  You DO NOT have to let kids “cry it out” – it ain’t healthy, normal, or more godly to do so.
8. Attachment Parenting – like I said, we’re big Dr. Sears fans.
9. Positive Discipline for Preschoolers – discipline is about learning, not power or punishment.
10. Growing Strong Daughters – got girls?  Read this.

Here’s my contention.  We don’t know squat about Community.  We just don’t.  We are, myself certainly included, dumb when it comes to Community.  Not only is our Civic Community in disarray, but we have almost no idea what it means to live in Christian Community.  Those two, Civic and Christian Community, by the way, aren’t the same, but overlap like a good Venndiagram.  We live as Technomadic Monads, but are designed to live as Pneumasomatic Triads.  Let’s unpack that shall we…

Even as a self-professed technophile I find it disconcerting and frustrating the emotional and spiritual distance created by the 24/7, always connected, digital world.  That’s the “tech” part of the phrase.  The constant barrage of technology streaming and screaming all around us effects us, even if we don’t think we’re paying attention to it.  At the minimum it changes our perception of life.  When I ride my bike I notice things that I would never even see if I were driving.  Likewise, we’re nomadic.  We flit from this to that like bees in a clover field.  We trick ourselves into believing that proximity or placefulness doesn’t really matter.  We assume that social media connection is qualitatively the same as a meal together.  I’m not saying that a social media connection has no value, just not the same as a slow meal together with friends and family.

We’re also monads.  A monad, of course, is a single, solitary, isolated, unconnected unit.  It is, by definition, not in relationship to something else.  It is the cult of the individual.  It is me, myself, and I and the rest of the world goes blind – or might as well, since we don’t really notice one another whilst we text in the car at 60 miles an hour.  Again, I’m not saying that individuals or individuality doesn’t matter.  It does.  It just isn’t the end all, be all of my existence.

I’m convinced that we’re really supposed to be living as Pneumasomatic Triads.  A pneumatic drill is a drill powered by air.  We are designed to be powered by the Spirit.  We are spirit-ual beings, but we are not disembodied spirits.  We have a “soma,” a body.  Psychosomatic disorders are a

bodily ailment or symptom, caused by mental or emotional disturbance, in which psychological stresses adversely affect physiological (somatic) functioning to the point of distress.

Conversely, a Pneumasomatic person is a healthy, holistic Spirit-embedded, flesh and blood, human.  But we’re not health, holistic (or maybe even Spirit-embedded) if we aren’t in relationship with one another.  That’s the Triad part – We are in a divine dance with God, one another, and even ourselves.  Much like the Perichoretic nature of the Trinity itself, we hold life in a common connection with God’s self and the other.

So, instead of mediating our lives in isolated cubicles massaging our eyelids with “screens of distraction” (to use Wendell Berry’s phrase), we are meant to live in dynamic and creative tension with our sisters and brothers and God.  We are meant to be Spirit-embodied Communal creatures – Pneumasomatic Triads – instead of Technomadic Monads.

So here’s the thing.  I know there are faithful campus ministers on each of those campuses.  I’d take time to list them, but it would be a long list (if you need a connection to one on a particular campus, let me know and I’ll hook you up).  Most of those campus have multiple leaders, ministers, and missionaries serving on them.

We in the church spend, it seems, a lot of time wringing our hands and worrying about where all the young people went.  We fret, “Why aren’t they in church on Sunday morning?”  Justifiably older members tend toward fears of whether their beloved local church (or denomination) will even exist in the next 20-30 years.  They reason, understandably, that if the next generation aren’t in the pews there won’t be people to carry on once they’re gone.

My friends, them there colleges and universities are filled with young people!  In fact, taken together just the campuses I selected (ones where I know one or more campus ministers/ministries) would total a population of more than most cities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky or the Greater Cincinnati metro area!  Only Lexington, Louisville have more than 134,532 in Kentucky and, in Ohio, Cincinnati.

If we gave up on our campus ministries at these institutions of higher education (AKA “mission fields”) it would be akin to abandoning a major metropolitan area.  (Not that I’m expecting that to happen…. I’m just saying)  I know we must continue to re-envision what it means to be effective and successful in our ministry endeavors – much less faithful – but we mustn’t stop trying.  Whether or not our job is to get those young people into the pews on a Sunday morning (and I’m pretty sure that’s not our main job) or however we define success.  We must keep being creative, innovative, and experimental in our mission to be a sign, instrument, and foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

Finally, I think there’s work to be done on how we understand our role on each of these campuses.  I’ve written before about conceiving of success ecologically in a ministry/mission environment and I think there’s more to delve into there.  Likewise, if we consider network theory (social networks both digitally and geographically contrived) we might begin to see our role as a campus minister as more of instigator and seed distributor than as only a chaplain or shepherd.  This is where 5-fold ministry, the empowerment of the laity, and flexible structures of mission come into play in a big way…. but that’s for another post.

This morning I dropped Cloey off for school, she’s a big 1st Grader now, and headed to NKU.  Today was the first day of class and the campus was a buzz with new sneakers, backpacks, and “Ihaven’tseenyouallsummerhowareyou!!!!”  It was great to be on campus as life returned from the summer slowness.  Even better was to sit at Starbucks and constantly greet students who I’ve come to know and with who I have nurtured meaningful relationships.  Three years ago my first day on the job was the first day of class and I sat in Starbucks not knowing anyone.  Today was markedly different.

Then tonight the university hosted a movie on the Science Center lawn.  The Baptists provided burgers, a new church plant provided water bottles, we made lattes.  Oh, did we make lattes!  We used 4 gallons of milk, 5 pounds of coffee beans, 2 bottles of syrup, 5 gallons of water.  Guessing we did upwards of 200 drinks.  The students LOVED them (and they are probably still wide awake from them too)!  Extra special thanks to Chris Bean and the Espresso Guild for helping us out with equipment and set-up and La Terza Coffee for wonderful beans.  It was a great way to bless the students with hospitality and presence.  It was also a great way to get to know students and start conversations.  My friends, I’m pretty sure God showed up.  Really.  I think I served him an iced vanilla latte.  And to top it all off I got serve with a whole host of NKU students who make the Wesley Foundation home and a couple Asbury Church folk, all of them worked and played together wonderfully and intently.  It was awesome!

Did I mention, I love my job!

Via Crucis :: Immersion 2008 flyer

(post updated 1/23/12 with new links)

Well, I’ll admit it.  I’m procrastinating.  I should be writing a seminary paper on podcasting.  But at the moment I’m pondering more about non-linear, emergent, participatory, ambient music.

Yeah, I know.  You were thinking the exact. same. thing!

Specifically, I’m looking forward to Via Crucis :: Immerison 2010 that we’ll be creating this Spring. (if you want to play, let me know)  Every year we’ve had some kind of opening night event.  In 2006, Aradhna played a beautiful concert in the round.  In 2008, Isaac Karns (of the Pomegranates) conducted an ensemble of brilliant musicians who created a fantastic musical happening (I’ll repost the mp3s that we recorded soon.  I finally posted here them in 2012!).  In 2010, I’d love to push the envelope a bit further and create music together as a gathered body – but do it in a non-linear, emergent, participatory, ambient way.  I’ll attempt to delineate deliberately in reverse:

Music

It matters.  As much as worship isn’t only music – a helpful corrective from folks like Lilly Lewin – music remains a powerful and visceral way we connect with God, the world around us (in a sonic, vibration sorta way), and one another.  There is something about music that quite literally rings in our ears and penetrates to the heart.

Ambient

I’m thinking here of the musical genre, which our friend Wikipedia defines thusly:

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an “atmospheric”, “visual” or “unobtrusive” quality.

As such, this would be building on the work and thought of Brian Eno.  Deep resonances and earthy electronica that evoke (and perhaps, provoke) more than they instruct, lead, or demand.  Allowing the space between to be attended to as much, if not more, than the actual notes, sounds, or chords.

Participatory

One of the bones to pick with typical “worship music” – be that “traditional” (hymns, organs, choirs) or “contemporary” (bands, guitars, drums) is how non-participatory it actually is.  In both cases we watch the professionals/experts on the stage conduct us to minimally participate at the lowest common denominator.  Sure, we may sing – or some do – but that’s it.  Deciding what we sing, when we sing, how we sing and the notes to which we sing – that’s the expert’s job.  So, what if Via Crucis :: Immersion was a deeply participatory event?  Not just those who create the stations and engage the stations – but what if the music that is generated on opening night is fully participatory.  What if what existed that night would not exist if not for each person gathered – not merely in the spiritual presence sense – but in the actual live creation of music.  I’m thinking here of an Aural Event – that resonates from our the soles of our shoes to souls of our brains.  Sort of like a musical wiki.

Emergent

Imagine an aural event of ambient music created together by active, live participation that EMERGES out of a set of simple rules that everyone follows.  I’m thinking here of the complex behavior of ant colonies or bee hives.  All created by leaderless systems of autonomous individuals following specific behavioral codes.  This music would be birthed out of people following a simple set of guidelines.  Nothing pre-ordained, no sheet music, no conductor.  Rather when the gathered assemble we would instruct them of 3 rules about how, what, and when they can play (this might be vocal or instrumental) – out of this social matrix (something that is intentional and crafted) the musical aural event would emerge.  Think fractals.  See also emergence on Wikipedia.

non-linear

- This would not be a 1, 2, 3 process.  Sure, the Stations of the Cross are linear – they follow a path that leads from point A (Jesus’ condemnation) to point B (Jesus in the tomb).  And the music event would have a beginning and an end (though you could debate that to an extent).  But within the (parenthetical) confines of the Aural Event the music would follow it’s own path – not one that we predetermined.  It would be the Worship Music equivalent of a Spirit-led walk in the woods.

So, what do you think?  How could we pull this off?  What would we need to pull this off?