Roses, excellence

Once again the New Year begins with the Rose Parade. One of the regrets of our seven years in Southern California is that we never got to Pasadena on New Year's day, although we did go one year to view the floats post-parade. The detail and labor intensity of these creations is absolutely incredible!

There must be some insights in such a production. I can think of a few: Hard work and attention to detail go hand in hand and lead to quality. Vision, skill, and effort come together to create beauty. Such beauty provides inspiration and invites motivation. What insights do you draw from the Tournament of Roses Parade?

"A Cut Above the Rest," the theme for this year's parade, may serve us well in the new year, a commitment to do and be our best, and to bring out the beauty that is inherent in the tools and materials that God provides for our artistry.

Happy New Year!

Better door than window

This phenomena repeats itself frequently in our household. I'm trying to watch a game on TV or we're watching a movie, and son number one Ben rambles into the room, and into the viewing path. No matter which seat we've chosen with what angle to the screen, Ben finds a way to stand in the direct line of sight.

As I was growing up, the Shively household would exclaim under these circumstances, "You make a better door than window!" Ben's a fantastic door at times!

Entering this new year, I'm wondering what other line-of-sight obstructions keep coming up, those things which cause clear vision to be blocked, goals to be interrupted, purpose to be distracted. It's fairly easy to get Ben to move out of the way; not so easy to peer around some of these other distractions.

And there's always the turnabout scenario, when my kids catch me ambling into a room and stopping directly in front of their vision field. "Dad, you make a better door than a window." I'm sure it happens in other areas of life too, where I get in the way of others, maybe even in God's way.

So for this new year, I'm going to try to be a better window than a door, or at least if I end up being a door, I'll try to be an open one.

Webcasts coming up

In just a couple weeks, October 23-25, I'll be preaching, giving a keynote presentation, and offering a workshop at the Western Plains District Church of the Brethren Gathering. This fifth annual event focusing on worship, learning, and fellowship is held near Salina, Kansas, but this year will be accessible to people all around the world through the wonders of webcasting.

This venture is very exciting because it networks both a physical gathering and a virtual web of participants, fostering common conversation and shared formation. It's also somewhat intimidating for me as a presenter because it will require paying attention to these extended audiences. In the end, though, I expect this endeavor to teach all of us a lot about the webinar format and the power and limitations of this form of communication.

Obviously lots of organizations and schools have been using the webinar format for some time now, but for us Brethren the October event is a pretty major step. You're invited to join in and then let us know what the experience is like for you.

Click here or on the title of this blog post to see detailed information about all the presenters and the schedule for the event. Many of the broadcast sessions will also be archived for access after the event.

Collecting mentoring stories

Can you help me?

I'm looking for stories about how young people are being/have been mentored by older adults. At a workshop at National Older Adult Conference in September, I'll be leading a discussion around how one generation lives their legacy by helping emerging generations shape their legacy. A particular interest is how these relationships shape faith.

Ideal stories describe how you've been mentored, or how you have been mentoring young people (kids, youth, young adults, even young families qualify as "young people"), and would include both the mentor and the mentee reflecting on the relationship, describing how it works, how it came about, what the commitment is to each other, what each has learned from the relationship, and what the relationship means to those involved. If both can't contribute to the reflection, the story told from either point of view is welcome.

I'd prefer to have 3-5 minute video clips that you could send to me digitally, or audio/podcast files of the same length. But I'd also take stories told in written form as long as they're 1-3 pages in length. These clips don't have to be professional quality, but they do need to be something that you're willing for me to show/share with workshop participants.

Your material needs to be in my inbox by August 31.

Email me if you have questions or are able to contribute.

No Fear

On August 2, 2009 I had the privilege of preaching at the Northern Plains District Church of the Brethren conference. The Sunday morning sermon was based on 1 John 4:16b-21 and was entitled "No Fear."

In the sermon I reflected on how fear has become a commodity in culture, and also in the church. For the Christians especially, fear is a false commodity. The real economies of Gospel living are based on love, a radical, other-wordly love as expressed by God through Jesus.

Because a number of persons who heard this sermon asked for a copy, I am posting the link here.

Click here for a copy of No Fear - Northern Plains District Conference

Servanthood

Heard a very good sermon today by John Breidenstine. John and I grew up in the same congregation in Lancaster. John's a foreign diplomat stationed in Sonora, Mexico. He and his wife Judith are also students at Bethany Theological Seminary through the Connections distance education program.

What made for such a great sermon? Integrity. It wasn't that John was so dynamic. He's really a pretty "understated" guy. It wasn't that he shared any radically new thoughts on servanthood. I didn't hear anything that I hadn't heard before, or probably even preached before myself. But John and Judith and their son Victor really exemplify the servant posture and the pursuit of God's will for their lives that John was speaking about today.

One example of that integrity is found in this YouTube post that they put together recently. It documents the work of one mission in Hermosillo that they are actively involved in. Read John 13. Watch this video. Think about living with integrity. Live a life of service.

Power of the Towel

Power's a tricky commodity. We all have it. We all use it. It's not necessarily equally distributed among people, and it can be used for good or ill. There are different types of power: some power is earned, some is inherited, some is imposed.

One form of power which Jesus taught is power in servanthood. This type of power is most clearly exemplified in the John 13 story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet. In an outrageously counter cultural act, Jesus performed a power-filled act of service for his disciples, an act typically reserved for the powerless slave.

The faith tradition of which I am a part, the Church of the Brethren, recognizes the power of washing feet. It's symbolism indicates a world turned upside down, where power is shared and relinquished for the good of the other and the good of the community. As feet are washed in basins and dried with towels the balance of power is re-distributed, and the ultimate power in the universe, God in Jesus, is recognized as a serving, sustaining power.

Some years ago I wrote and recorded a song that captures a bit of this sentiment. A few of my friends and acquaintances have been reminding me of it lately, I suspect for its musical value, or perhaps some sentimental connection they have to it, or maybe because I need to be reminded of the posture of power that comes with a towel in hand. Whatever the impetus, here's the song. Feel free to use it in any way that's helpful to you and your faith community, except for selling it! (After all, it is copyrighted material).