Life in Bloom

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a time in which we prepare for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  But Ash Wednesday is especially significant for me.  It was on Ash Wednesday three years ago that I understood my calling to ministry.

As a child, I always thought that Ash Wednesday was the day when I got ashes smeared on my face.  It was the day I started giving up something for Lent. My parents never forced us kids to give up anything for Lent, but it was certainly encouraged in the church I grew up in.  For  me, that meant giving up bubble gum every single year.

Then, I got braces.  Which, for those of you who were blessed with those lovely little wires on your teeth, meant that you already weren’t chewing gum (if you were a nerdy rule follower like me).  This required me to be a bit more creative, which then led me to give up candy bars.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I started to figure out what this whole Lent thing was all about–that there was more to life than Trident and Twix.  I began to grasp that Lent really was a time of preparation.  It was a time when we as the Church and as the Body of Christ prepared for Easter Sunday, the day in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.  But I still didn’t get what it required of me in those 40+ days in between.

A few years later, I moved to South Carolina after I graduated college.  As always, I was trying to figure out what I was giving up for Lent, when my sweet roommate Jessica said, “Why don’t you add something this year instead of taking something away?”  I had never really thought of that before.  Lent always seemed a time of sacrifice, a time when we had to give up something.  I never thought of how adding something could be a spiritual discipline, too.

So I raided the prayer room at Wesley and borrowed a book Narcie had about journaling as a spiritual practice.  I never opened it, but it sat next to my journal for the Lenten period, as a daily reminder that I had committed to journaling through this period of preparation.  Little did I know that I’d embrace a calling to ministry during this time, and I’d hold onto that journal as a reminder of the time I, too, was preparing–preparing to delete all of my grad school applications, preparing for this crazy thing called the ordination process, and preparing for the affirmation of family, friends, parishioners, and mentors of my calling to ministry.

Now a few steps into this ordination process and fully immersed in another type of preparation (for my vocation as a pastor), I think I’m finally beginning to wrap my head around Ash Wednesday and Lent.  I’ve learned that it’s neither about chewing gum nor candy bars.  It’s not about giving something up just for the sake of giving something up.  It’s a time when we take on sacrifice and spiritual disciplines to grow closer to God.  It’s a time when we examine ourselves and ask, ‘What can I do to help me love God and love my neighbors better?’   Maybe that does mean giving something up, but perhaps it can mean adding something in, too.

Most of all, I’ve learned that Lent can be a time not just of giving something up, but giving into God.  Giving into the grace and mercy bestowed upon us everyday.  Giving into the peace that comes with knowing we are mortal and there is hope in the resurrection.  And giving into the love of God who transcends all understanding and enables us to live into a faith that is life-giving and life-changing.  Because if there is anything worth sacrificing for, it is this.

One of the best parts of my trip to Israel was serving as a delegate to the World Methodist Evangelism Institute.

The WMEI happens every 5 years, and I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to meet so many people from around the world who are part of the Methodist connection.  There were over 35 countries present including the United States, Italy, New Zealand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Angola, Finland, China, Belize, Nigeria, Brazil, France, Zimbabwe, Estonia, India, Germany, Kenya, the Congo, South Africa, Chile, Russia, Romania, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Barbados, Japan, Australia, Latvia, Colombia, Tonga, Serbia, and Ghana.  Whew!  Just writing all that out made me realize how cool it was to be a part of such an amazing conference.

During worship on the first night, I got all teary eyed.  And let me preface this by saying I’m not one of those people who cries in worship all the time.  But there were people praying in all of these different languages, and hearts from all around the world were gathered in this land where our Savior walked and talked and ministered and died and was resurrected for us.  It was just a beautiful, beautiful thing.

There were so many opportunities for us to hear from pastors and bishops both in our Methodist connection and outside of it.  One of the best speakers at the WMEI was Archbishop Elias Chacour.  He’s a globally recognized peace advocate who strives for non-violence.  He’s a Palestinian Arab Christian who works for reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis.  He’s the author of Blood Brothers, which I haven’t yet read, but I hear it’s fantastic.  Learning about him and his story really brought light to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and it was truly a blessing to hear from him.

Additionally, the conference provided a lot of opportunities for us to gather in small groups and go on tours with different people.  It was so wonderful to connect with pastors, bishops, professors, and laity from around the globe–it was definitely an experience I will not forget!

I wanted to post details about each day of my pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but school has certainly taken priority over that!  I hope to still write about the experience, but I will say that being in the places where Jesus walked and talked and ministered was simply amazing.  My Bible is now like a children’s pop-up book!  I can visualize all of these places and see the ways in which they have been changed over time.

But most of all, I loved being a delegate to the World Methodist Evangelism Institute because it helped me understand the nature of our Methodist connection.  I left the conference with friends and colleagues from around the globe.  I now know Methodist pastors from every continent.  That’s insane and incredibly cool.  And thanks to that crazy piece of technology called Facebook, I’m able to keep up with them (with the help of online translators!) to see what they’re doing in their ministries and how that’s similar to what I’m doing over here.  I see how, despite the differences in all of the places we serve, we’re all in this together.  As diverse as we may be, we are the Church.  We are the Body of Christ.  And I’m beginning to realize that’s beauty at its finest.

…you can’t figure out why your gym bag is so heavy, and then you find this inside

(which, of course, isn’t your only gigantic study Bible.  It’s just the only one that somehow ended up in your gym bag this week).

Throughout the school year, I find it increasingly difficult to find time to update my little corner of the blogosphere. This probably has to do with my current course overload, involvement in way too many organizations on campus, internship at Duke Wesley Fellowship, job as a fitness instructor on Duke’s campus, and desire to spend my free time with my friends, cheering on the Blue Devils, or sleeping.

In an effort to not completely ignore my blog, I’ve decided to start a series or perhaps a motif of posts that will highlight quotes from books or articles that I’m reading. Some I’ll agree with, others I may not. Most of them will be ones I just can’t stop thinking about and feel the need to share. Hopefully they will give you some insight into the things I study and the variety of thoughts and convictions that are thrown my way.

Today’s quote is from The Hauerwas Reader, which is one of the required books for my Christian Ethics course taught by world-renowned theologian Dr. Stanley Hauerwas.

“What is needed to sustain the struggle for social justice is not, as the social gospel presumed, a grand idealistic vision, but the possibility of forgiveness which is necessarily a “moral achievement which is possible only when morality is transcended in religion.” Thus, for Neibuhr, Jesus’ cross represents the ultimate sacrificial love that will always call into question every social and political order. Such a cross is necessary to sustain moral action in an inherently unjust world, for only as it stands on the edge of history do we have the basis for a hope that does not result in either despair or utopianism.”

I hope to post more pictures and a summary of my experience in Israel & Palestine soon. In the meantime, look forward to some more posts like this one where you can get a tiny glimpse into my theological education. Also, this is the first time I’ve ever blogged on mu iPad, so fingers crossed that this post actually goes public

The following post was written when I was in Israel.  I didn’t have internet access at the time, so I couldn’t publish the post immediately.  I’m back in the States and have nearly unlimited internet, so if you have any questions or comments, please leave them in a comment below the post and I will reply as quickly as possible.

Why hello there!

Our second day in the Holy Land was absolutely beautiful!  Though I must admit, it got off to a rough start.  My roommate Lydia and I were awoken quite early by our neighbors in the room next door.  They were chanting and praying at the top of their lungs.  It sounded like there wasn’t even a wall between us!  Lydia woke up at 1am (meaning she only got 2 hours of sleep!) but I didn’t hear them until 4am.  I generally sleep like a champ—in college I even slept through a fire alarm once.  But these guys from Nigeria gave me a run for my money.  They finally stopped around 6am, but our wakeup call was at 6:30.

Nonetheless, we had a great breakfast of Mediterranean deliciousness before we went started to explore.  But before we get started, here’s some background on the Holy Land:

The Holy Land (presently Israel & Palestine) is about the size of Delaware.  51% of the land is desert, and the remaining 49% would be desert as well if people didn’t care for the land.  It’s the “land of milk and honey,” meaning it’s incredibly fertile.  And it’s the only land connection between Asia and Africa.

Our first stop for the day was Caesarea!

Fun fact: All of the statues are head-less because back in the day, they would keep the bodies and just replace the heads every time there was a new emperor/god/important dude.

We hung out in this ancient amphitheater,

saw some gorgeous views of the Mediterranean Sea,

checked out the remains of King Herod’s temple,

and walked along ruins that were discovered less than 10 years ago!

We then traveled to Mt. Carmel, one of 5 really famous mountains in the Holy Land.  Others include Mt. Moriah (where Isaac was sacrificed) and Mt. Sinai (where Moses received the 10 commandments).  The name Carmel means “garden of God” (El means God and Car means garden). 1 Kings 18 tells us that Mt. Carmel was where Elijah confronts the false prophets and all of the people declare that the Lord is God.

You can almost see all of Israel and parts of Palestine from the top of Mt. Carmel.  It was hazy and cloudy out, but everything was still beautiful!

There’s even a sanctuary and monastery at the top of the mountain.

On the roof of the monastery, there is a compass telling you everything that you can see from Mt. Carmel.  I couldn’t fit it all in the picture!

Check back soon for part 2 of our first full day in Israel!