café au lait

more wordcraft of Chaundra:

there are times
that i sit there and steam
like a mug of French roast
dark and brooding
yet you
beautiful you
like rich smooth cream
you temper my bitterness
and turn our life from
a cup of joe
into café au lait

from proverbs

words of agur ben jakeh:

there are three things which are too wonderful for me,

yea, four which I do not comprehend:

how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship steers on the oceans

...and how a man loves a woman.

NTRT: the authenticity of listening

today i'm guest blogging at the not-the-religious-type blog with dave schmelzer (dave is also senior pastor of the greater boston vineyard)

...my post today explores some of my thoughts on the authenticity of listening

peace

generous beauty

more wordcraft of Chaundra:

…a blue-green sea

…flecks of amber sunlight

inviting eyes highlight your generous beauty

a little golden finch

more thoughts of Chaundra:

a little golden finch
joined me this morning
as i sat outside
deeply embracing
my first cup of coffee

she looked at me
this way
and that
sizing me up
it seemed to me

then she chirped at me
so as to get my attention
as if i were ignoring her
and there was a moment
as we looked deeply
at one another
a breathless moment
when it came down to just us
we saw each other

in reflection
the moment with my finch
was much like so many moments
between my wife and i
breathless
mysterious
curious
looking at each other
waiting for the other
to speak our heart
before the moment
flies away
like that little finch did

outer banks

from a moment shared with Chaundra:

as the setting sun sighs its last
and tumbles over the precipice once again
i lap up the disciplined break of the surf
from my sandy cloister of quiet
and the thought of you occurs to me
as my face is embraced by the gentle wind
swirling off the sea and salt
i think of you and then
revealed by a most delicate tremor
as if the gentlest breath has kissed my neck
awareness of your approach descends upon me

as if you were drawn to me thinking of you
in the blue tone and silhouette of dusk
have you come to witness the fading illumination
upon the ever deepening shadows of sea
notice the white crests of waves

how they strike the shore
displaying such a deep contrast with easy rhythm
that refuses to be banished in the encroaching darkness
just like your simple presence now nestled close
as a salty breeze discovers our hidden haunt
touching with approval our instance of evocative connection

Fête a Chaundra

this weekend we fête Chaundra!

my beautiful and wonderful wife will enter her 40th year and we are going to celebrate her...she is so wise, so warm and welcoming. i just cherish her and our life together. we talk about growing old together...and while we aren't there yet, and i want to treasure the sacrament of the present moment, this commercial always makes me think of our "growing old and wise and fun together" chats:





so, for the next week - culminating on her birthday next wednesday - i will be posting some wordcraft for my wondrous wife....

peace

walks-with-many-names

wordcraft for the feast of pentecost:

she walks with many names
through wind and flame
breathing passion
in water and light
graceful in the frolic of glory

mothering
she comforts diverse hearts
awakens and dwells
among the deeper wells within
rests and soars
along the driving current wherein
she speaks with many tongues
to divine and portend
a whisper of hope
with renown and acclaim
the conviction of love again and again

o her mystifying ways
o her succulent allure

the barest scent
you can discover
as the gentle breeze
caresses your face
as the gale force
batters your body
breathing new life
with the quickening
of living transformation
where the living liquid
flows forth
one Spirit
one Body
one Lord

quickening

intensity that aches…
…yet You cast Fire
it rushes upon me

and my pulse accelerates
surprised by the change
in an electric atmosphere
like the first taste
of a faint fragrance
stirring my senses to exhilaration
even as it moves within me
burning in deliberate discomfort
invigoratingly thrust beyond myself

deeply rooted
in my enduring encounter…
…a connection too profound for sound

the texture of eternity

with the oil of gladness
burning on my brow

alight with anointing
i get caught up

in the embrace
of such instance

i could never be content
…with indistinct distance
…with inadequate detachment

rather than the demonstration
…Your Holy Touch
…Your Love Divine

that sprinkles mercy
upon my face

while liquid joy
runs up and down my spine

embracing me
with the texture of eternity

mojo in my bones

wearisome world
worrisome groan
this life of voodoo
bitter taste in my bones

chicory is the tint
of this world…nothing new
yet still striving my strained eyes
to glance something askew

shiny is the prophet of main street slang –
itching ears to be scratched
by a lying spirit
with fangs

a tongue from of old
practiced in deceit
words flung like dry bones
cast by a houngan on bourbon street

yet his bones they are silent
no clarity to be found
the present no-more-so
eyes turn toward the ground


then heard is a rumbling
and a shaking that confounds
as saints march forth
a new hope that astounds

angelic is the battle
that looms overhead
His Presence rushing forth
as we rest in our beds

the wicked ones – they flee
at His Presence announced
while others in awe
marked with Beauty pronounced

the symmetry of karma
is wrecked by Another
this shattering Grace
of the Alpha and Omega

no more the brittle bones
do they break beneath me
the old marrow reborn
new Spirit fills deeply

like a heaping spoonful of beans
poured over steaming rice
His Presence rushing forth
filled with new spice

fresh mojo in my bones
a vitality springing forth
the taste of new life
embraced beyond and always thenceforth

coals of my soul

wordcraft for the feast of shavu'ot:

a whispering hope smoulders
in these glowing inward embers
…waiting for the eternal breath
to blow on them
bringing new life
and flame within

fire and wind
propel one another
…the ancient mystery
stoking the coals
of renewed flesh and spirit
now fueled with wildfire within

2011 SVS Conference in Seattle and call for papers

From our friend Caleb Maskell and the Society of Vineyard Scholars:

We are very pleased to announce that the second annual Society of Vineyard Scholars conference will be held February 3-5, 2011 in Seattle, Washington, USA. The theme of the conference is: “By The Renewal Of Your Mind: Imagining, Describing, and Enacting the Kingdom of God.”

Our plenary speaker will be acclaimed Christian philosopher, theologian, and cultural critic, Professor James K. A. Smith of Calvin College. A friend of the Vineyard, his astute insight into education, worship, postmodernity, orthodoxy, and the Kingdom of God has much of value to say to the Society of Vineyard Scholars.

Six panel sessions spread over Thursday afternoon, Friday and Saturday morning will feature presentations of and responses to papers written by SVS participants, focusing on aspects of the conference’s larger theme. This intellectual interaction around the work of SVS members forms the heart of what we will do together. Alongside our regular panel sessions, we will also have special opportunities to hear from Professor Bo Karen Lee (Princeton Theological Seminary), Dr. Bob Ekblad (Tierra Nueva/Mars Hill Graduate School; author of Reading The Bible With The Damned and A New Christian Manifesto), Bert Waggoner (National Director, VineyardUSA), and others to be announced.

We will make time for prayer, worship, and prophetic ministry, as well as allowing plenty of time for people to interact and form relationships. There will be a wine and cheese reception, lunchtime breakouts for people with particular shared interests, and more.

Mark your calendars! Book your flights! You won’t want to miss this conference!
For more details, see the SVS Events website.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUBMIT A PAPER TO SVS 2011 (THIS MEANS YOU!)
(click here to download the Call For Papers)

All who are working on or have earned a graduate degree in any field are encouraged to submit a paper for consideration that has general relevance to the conference theme. There are also four specific areas under the general rubric of the conference theme in which submissions are particularly encouraged. They are: Imagining Discipleship, Doctrines of Justification, Epistemology and the Kingdom, and the Formation of Orthodoxy.

SVS highly values an interdisciplinary approach; in order to adequately address these themes and questions, it is necessary to hear theologically-reflective perspectives from a wide variety of fields in the humanities, social sciences, and even the natural sciences. No disciplinary perspective is out of bounds.

We particularly welcome papers from women and non-white men, voices which have been historically underrepresented in theological dialogues to the detriment of the conversation in general. This is of course in no way to discourage the participation of white men(!) but rather to encourage the full participation of all who believe in the mission of the Society of Vineyard Scholars.

For a full description of the general theme and specific foci of this conference, as well as for technical details on how to submit your work, click here to download the 2011 Call For Papers.

We hope that you are as thrilled about the establishment of the Society of Vineyard Scholars as we are, and we look forward to developing this nascent community of theological discourse with you. As always, if you have any further questions, please email the SVS at societyofvineyardscholars@gmail.com


Follow SVS on Twitter! http://twitter.com/vineyardsvs

Join the SVS Facebook Group!

deep church: re-imagining vineyard disctinctives

this week at the deep church blog, is the last week for the Re-Imagining Vineyard Distinctives series...

this week the Distinctive is Leadership: Leaders who are accountable, servants, functional instead of positional, and who walk with a 'limp'.

• I start off the week with Casting Shadow or Light: Discerning Discipleship and Liberating Leadership
• Steve Burnhope reflects on Wrestling God with Jacob at peniel
• Jason Clark stirs us further with: Vulnerability: the most attractive leadership attribute

what is this about? a few of us have been delving into 10 Vineyard Church values/distinctives, to explore how they might be run against some of the necessary theological questions of evangelicalism/emerging culture that the emerging church conversation has raised over the last 10 years...so check it out

sacred abacus

she fingers the beads
as a meditation
prayer released
humbly she interjects
her breath is coarse
from a deep expectation
perhaps His Presence to intersect

she wields her words
just like a weapon
weaving a tapestry of light
her eyes offer tears
of rich intercession
time eclipsed
with arcane insight

she waits patiently for an answer
hidden Christ
waiting to be revealed
her eyes are distant
clouded and yet clear
His gentle approach
quiet and concealed

she regards the beads
of her sacred abacus
counting on an epiphany
and the striking of a chord
her hands upheld
as in many ancient basilicas
fragrance drifting heavenward

deep church: Vineyard Distinctives Re-Imagined continues

this week at the deep church blog, the Re-Imagining Vineyard Distinctives series continues...

this week the Distinctive is Church planting: missional identity, we plant churches that will plant churches.

• Steve Schenk starts us off with redefining a successful local church
• Jason Clark will stir the conversation later this week...

what is this about? a few of us have been delving into 10 Vineyard Church values/distinctives, to explore how they might be run against some of the necessary theological questions of evangelicalism/emerging culture that the emerging church conversation has raised over the last 10 years...so check it out