Spiritual Revival

OK....so I have been a laggard when it comes to blogging. My good wife, Elaine, could add a few more things to that laggard list, but I don't think you want to waste your time reading about Peterson's pitfalls. So on with the "Pattter". My pastor was installed today at Bethany...impressive service as always....and how ironic, the Gospel read for the installation service was the Gospel text for my last Sunday at Bethany....the passage of Jesus telling his disciples to put their nets on the other side of the boat. That's an issue, isn't it....not only in the church, but for our country....for leaders to change the patterns of their behavior and try "the other side of the boat". I've learned a lot since sitting in the pews more often than standing in the pulpit. I don't like sermons which rehash the text in several different ways, but never get to the challenge of what the text means for us today. I appreciate when pastors are honest about their own struggle in heeding what Jesus was trying to teach or to mandate what his disciples ought to do. I definitely feeling something missing when the service doesn't offer the opportunity to dine at the table of the Lord. I like when our congregation responds in the prayer of the church by repeating the first name of the person being remembered in prayer because of being ill. How do you instill a spiritual "passion" within a congregation where people are suspicious of emotions being overtly expressed in the context of the liturgy? Do I breathe as sigh of relief...thank God I'm retired....or do I ponder what I would do if I had to give leadership for such issues?

I recently read in a journal I receive (First Things) an article where the author was suggesting that how a culture deals with death says much about how they value life and its meaning. Interesting that by 1914 San Francisco had decreed there would be no cemetaries in the city. The only symbol, the author said, the city had of death was the bridge off of which people jumped to commit suicide. The land was too valuable to use for burying the dead. In Europe, portions of land were designated to bury the "anonymous" dead....people who had no one to mourn their passing. Is this what our indivdualistic, tech savy sociey is pointed towards? Funerals create community, stated the author. We affirm the values received from those who have gone before us. That's something to ponder. What values did my folks have that I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren? Even if I knew what they were in a definite way, how do I do that? Decree and declare. Or simply live them out as a "silent" message?

Guess the bottom line is to say...."I haven't arrived....I am still on the journey." And open to suggestions from fellow travelers as to what has worked for them.