Houston, we have a problem

It looks like I am giving up computer use for Lent. The James Family Super Computer has crashed. Mr. Scott to the bridge!

So how is Lent going for you?

I got an email from a friend today (hello, OL FU!!) who has not seen me post for a while on an internet football messageboard. I could have responded that it is the off-season (if such a thing truly exists for diehard football fans) and beyond Wofford’s excellent recruiting class (minus a nose tackle or two) there is not much to talk about on a football messageboard. Of course, that is not entirely true--- there is usually a bunch of stuff to discuss: sports and politics to movies to theology (believe it or not). I told my friend that visiting AGS was one of those things I gave up for Lent. I also gave up SimCity. SimCity is a neat computer game that allows you to build a city from scratch into a thriving metropolis or blow it all up. It is a great stress reliever.

I am not the only one in the household to give up stuff for Lent. Staff Sgt. WE has given up sodas and LPCoolJ gave up chewing gum. I think Mamma Deacon gave up her health (since she has been battling pneumonia). Since the Patriots lost the Super Bowl (THE last football game of the year), I think the Athlete gave up football---although that was not a choice.

Seriously, why all this talk of giving up trivial stuff (minus Mamma Deacon's health)? What difference does it make if I don’t build a city of a quarter million imaginary people or discuss with D1B the finer points of the Incarnation through the church? What is really to be gained? For me, I have already gained the experience of finding other ways to relieve stress that work my body as well as my mind. I am now walking daily on the treadmill. It is a healthy, if meager, start. Doing without the trivial things helps me to focus on the important things I have lost or forgotten. I am developing a better prayer discipline that I had lost over the course of the past year. I know on so many levels how beneficial a prayer discipline is to have, but how hard it is to regularly practice. It is still early in Lent; there is still plenty to learn and areas of life in which to grow.

I will be back building cities and discussing football March 23^rd. But hopefully the things I have gained (and lost) this Lent will not be forgotten. I hope they will be part of who I am and what God calls me to be.

Tonto Was More Than a Sidekick

Tonto was more than a sidekick--he was a friend.

Throughout this past week, United Methodist clergy from the South Carolina Annual Conference gathered for day-long meetings throughout the state in places like Winnsboro. We gathered to listen to Garlinda Burton, the General Secretary for the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women. We listened once again to a discussion of sexual ethics; one might think that clergy would be immune from such problems---one would be wrong. According to Ms. Burton, millions of dollars have been paid across United Methodism in recent years for clergy sexual misconduct. Allegations of clergy misconduct are nothing new and are not limited to sexual abuse as recent South Carolina news reports indicate. Clergy, as with the general population, sin and fall short of the glory of God.

As I listened to Ms. Burton, it seems that one of the early signs of what could be later trouble (of many varieties) for clergy is isolation. My friends and I call it the “Lone Ranger Syndrome”—the belief that one can do it all alone. Sometimes it happens because of geography--we serve isolated or rural settings. Other times it happens because we work without much Sabbath time…we become the indispensable pastor. Regardless of the reason, it isn’t long until we don’t have many clergy friends we speak with on a regular basis. Clergy connections and friendships are important because our colleagues know the ministry in general and some of our friends know us better than we know ourselves. They know the journey we take and the people we are. Without that clergy connection or accountability, we can isolate ourselves into weariness, overwork, and a loss of perspective. With defenses and boundaries weakened by the lack of community support and care, clergy can find themselves in vulnerable places facing temptations that normally they might withstand.

Connection and accountability is important in our faith journey. We cannot be lone rangers in any Christian endeavor. We grow as Christians when we are connected to others who love and care for us as we love and care for them. Clergy have to have that connection, not just for their own spiritual growth or friendship needs (that is important as well) but to keep balanced and aware of their souls and the places and people they serve.

So the last paragraph is about the challenge:

If you are a layperson, ask your pastor when the last time he/she had a day off. Encourage them to take one regularly. If you are a clergyperson, call the pastor in the church/charge next to you this week and just chat. You never know how important and meaningful it might be for that pastor---and for you.

At the Cross

If you have been one of the few who have followed this blog's account of the highway construction and the heritage tree at India Hook late last year, here is an update on the progress made so far. The tree has been sent to a sawmill and then to a woodworker for the final work. We are scheduled to meet with the woodworker as well as the folks who are helping us install the cross next week. The preliminary plan is that the cross will be 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide, made of 8 inch beams from the heritage tree. It will weigh 300 to 400 pounds. Installation and securing it properly are very high on my list, since I will be preaching under it week to week. We may also put newer lighting in the sanctuary that will not obscure the view of the cross. A diverse group from the church will plan and implement the final decision. If all goes according to plan, we will dedicate the Cannon Heritage Cross on March 16th, Palm Sunday.

The presence of the cross will change the focus of India Hook's worship space. With the clear glass in the areas around and above the pulpit, the eye is currently drawn upward to the beauty of creation beyond the glass. The cross will hang from the rafters in the ceiling, high above the Pulpit and the Table. The cross will be a focus in the foreground, and creation will be viewed in light of that huge cross.

Although the dedication will be the last Sunday of Lent, my Lenten reflections seem to be pointed to the cross of Christ and especially the hymns that speak of the cross. Much has been made of the method of torture known as the Cross especially in Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. My pondering as of late has more to do with what Christ was willing to do, rather than the brutality of humanity in that scene. It is a love that acted in spite of the awful brutality... a love that still goes to the cross for us today... even when we want to leave the horror of the death of Christ to "back then" and the Romans and the Jews.

Yes, there is much to ponder still. We ponder what it means for Christ to call us to pick up our cross and follow him. Our crosses are probably not like the one that will soon be found in India Hook's sanctuary, but ours are just as big and heavy, and also invisible to everyone but our own souls. Our crosses bear the name of fear, greed, shame or a multitude of other sins and brokenness.

Still pondering...