So you have worked in Eastern Europe…

Top 10 things people say to me:

1. Oh so are you from there?

2. Like where Dracula is from? Are there bats there?
3. Is Belarus in South America?

4. Have you seen that movie where they get shot down over Bonsia? Is it like that?

5. Do you like cabbage?

6.  Are you a communist?

7. Are you teaching those communists the RIGHT way to do things?

8.  Do they really wear those funny, furry hats?

9. Don’t they hate America?

10.  Does everyone work for the mafia over there?

btw my prof asked me several off the list today, I will let you guess which ones

SpOoNs

I just sent the spoon theory to my entire class. Beccause today was Lupus day and because I strive to find new reasons for my classmates to think I have lost it.

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/navigation/BYDLS-TheSpoonTheory.pdf

worshipful musings.

Some weeks I attend two church services. Not because I am super pious but rather because I lack the time to seek out better social opportunities when I spend 10 hours  a day in the library.

The two services are very different. One occurs on Saturday night and is almost entirely people from 18 to 30. There is a coffee shop in the back with a endless flow of caffeinated beverages.  The seats are mostly little cafe tables in front of a stage. Its more like live music at a cafe than what you might think of as church. The music tends to be something between U2, and Greenday infused with Jesus.  The lighting is dim with candles and occasionally some concert like lights while the band plays. The sermon is supposed to be relevant to 20 somethings  and the pastor is dressed in jeans and doesn’t have his shirt tucked in.

The Sunday morning service is a intergenerational service. From babies to a 94 yr old. The music is a mixture of hymns, contemporary worship songs and original music by church members. Worship often includes drama, sign language, flim and sometimes dance.  Its held in a church’s  gym with a stain glassed window at one end and a basketball hoop at the other.  The sermon is typically not geared simply for 20 somethings and the pastor wears a button down shirt and sometimes a tie.

On the weekends when I go to both (last this past one) I am always surprised by the contrast.  It reminds me of the diversity of Christian worship which is funny because in the grand spectrum these two are pretty close when compared to a Catholic mass or an Orthodox prayer service.

The thing I love about the young adult service is the community. Its empowering to be among so many people my age who are A. trying to the pull the truth of Christanity out from its religious shackles, B. trying to live for Christ in a time of our lives where thats very unpopular and C. have a passion to reach out with mercy, see social justice and peace in our world.  But I miss the perspective that comes from those who have gone before. We think we came up with our ideas but we didn’t Many have been filled with the same dreams and passions in response to scripture.

I really miss is the children  and the elderly. Not simply for the sake of diversity but becuase they enrich my worship experience. I love the children because they are so genuine. They are either genuinely interested or genuinely uninterested. :)  I appreciate their honesty because lets face it faith without honesty isn’t worth your time. I also love how uninhibited the kids are, there are two little boys who love to sit up with the church staff. They also like to dance. They will dance down at the front during worship, its not disrupting or loud and you wouldn’t notice in-less you have to sit near the front yourself to be able to hear.  They don’t do it all the time but when they do they seem to be loving it.  They remind that worship is not about being dignified  (as seen by King David’s example).

The elderly on of the other hand remind me of reverence.  Now how do I justify my lack of dignity and reverence.  To me reverence is about your attitude toward who you are worshiping, the lack of inhibition is surrendering yourself to that attitude to point where it overpowers your care towards what those around you might think.  If you choose to dance in worship or raise your hands or kneel or take a sacrement and its a joke to you than you are soiling the scared. But if you respond to the scared by raising your hands, kneeling, taking a sacrement, dancing, praying, etc becuase you are in awe of the scared, then you are worshiping. Denominations have split over the balance.

But as I alluded to earlier most of all I miss the stories of the elderly and the children.  I miss their perspectives, their wisdom and their hearts.  The world is not make up of 20 somethings.  I learn so much from the perspectives of others.

So I ponder all this and ask how do we foster worship in church? How do we make it more than going through the motions?

I hear the world relevance a lot in Christian literature these days and especially at my young adult cafe service. People spend a lot of money, time and energy talking about how to make worship relevant to our culture.  TO be honest I don’t think it has much to do with the genre of the music, the setting, the lighting, or even how we dress. I think it has to do with somehow finding a weaving between the shared perspectives from all backgrounds and ages and those different people forming a tight knit community. I feel like that mesh would foster reverence, awe (and thus a fear and love for God) and surrendering of our dignity ( and thus repentance, trust and a desire to live one’s life differently to serve others) .

excellent go, go gadget the perfect church

if only it was that  easy.

Real Post soon but here is a new project.

I have decided that I need a creative outlet during the evil board study era and time of exile. I am going to make a photo blog!!!!!! Every day starting next Saturday I am going to take a random photo or two and add them. This will give me something fun and crazy to do while spending every waking minute memorizing boat loads of medical knowledge. My new photo home online is here:

http://fortydaysandnights.blogspot.com/

Faith Healing :)

This makes me smile:

http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/375/