Orthowhatsy?

Update on what's happenin:

* workin and blorking.
* still trying to find my rhythm up here.
* excited about thursday small group! Starts tomorrow. have no friggin clue how it will go.

What I'm readin:

* Still on the PNHotW.
* Am really ready to finish and start my books for next semester!

Random thoughts on my PVM:

Just listened to an interview with Phylis Tickle and Tony Jones. They said some neat stuff, but the thing that stuck with me was some terms that I really like. Orthonomy and Orthoparadoxy. I'll start with some background for you 'uninformed' theologians out there...

Orthodoxy:: right or straight; correct <-doxy> from doxos; teaching, understanding. >>>
Orthodoxy is the foundation upon which the church of history has stood upon. There is no heresy without the opposing orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is the standard by which lines are drawn in the sand; orthodoxy allows one believer to say to another, "you are wrong, and I am right."

I would argue that this idea has been essential in the formation of the faith. Without the idea of orthodoxy, Christianity might have been assimilated into any number of previous religions or philosophies. Without this idea or rightness, the early Christian might have floundered about, and the confidence and assurance of knowing G-d that made Christianity so appealing in a time of great change and uncertainty might have dissipated. The movement of G-d's kingdom among the earth might have slowed down or flickered out without the idea of orthodoxy... might have.

Orthonomy:: right or straight; correct <-nomy> from nomos; originally harmony, later law (which meant harmony with G-d) >>>
Orthonomy is an appealing idea, one that is perhaps best captured in the phrase attributed to Keats, "beauty is truth, truth beauty." Phylis Tickle speaks of a time when she was lecturing to some Presbyterians regarding the validity of the virgin birth - the issue is apparently hotly debated in some of these circles. The story goes that as she was speaking, a youth stopped what he was doing in another room, and slowly drew closer to the talk. When she was done, the youth approached her and asked her about the whole topic - why was she talking about it? After explaining herself and why it was important to discuss this historical event, the youth said, "I don't know... It just seems too beautiful to not be true."

When examining the scope of history, the movement of G-d through history, the stories of salvation, redemption and restoration, and the beauty of all that G-d has done, sometimes (perhaps often) my response is - It's just too damn beautiful for it to be false. There's no way I can simply dismiss it out of hand. Even with hard proof to the contrary, my soul would speak out otherwise.

Unfortunately, this idea is centered and anchored around the idea that beauty defines truth, and beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder. This idea also does not resonate with me, as pure relativity is too open to distortion and perversion. In my limited perspective, I cannot imagine that all truth is relative...

Orthoparodoxy:: right or straight; correct from para and doxos; para- meaning beyond or against and doxos meaning understanding, or teaching. Hence... orthoparodoxy = rightly beyond understanding... or a correct paradox.

I love this. It captures to me, more than any other idea, the thought that G-d is other-than, beyond our comprehension. It is time, in my humble opinion, for us to return to the mystery of our faith. Reason has helped us along. However, reason cannot carry us to the throne. Only pressing into the mystery, the beauty, and the presence of a living G-d can be our path.

I will dwell on this thought and post more later...

Back in D-town

Update on what's happenin:

* I'm back in Dallas, and getting ready for my first weekend leading worship that is NOT an audition. Looking forward to getting back in that groove.
* I've been reorganizing all my praise stuff. After a few years of doing this praise thang, I feel like I have the organization process down pat. Once I get all the songs put into powerpoint format (should take me three-four days), I'll begin the process of going through the songs and powerpoints, checking for glaring errors, and begin numbering the songs so as to make the slides easily retrievable. This allows for an incredible amount of flexibility.
* Saw the movie Once with Jaimie last night. I loved it. But I love the Frames. Like, A LOT. So, a movie that had Glen Hansard (the lead singer) in a role in which he sang about 50% of the movie was a pretty good setup for me. The movie delivered. It was short and sweet, cute and not too sappy, and the music was gorgeous and Irish.

Random thoughts on my PVM:

I talked about the divergence of the 'church front' and the real life experience a little bit last week. I've read over it and want to talk a little more about this. I feel like there are many ways that we do this, and most of them are extremely subtle. We say things like, "I'll pray for you" and don't actually pray; we say we want to seek G-d wholeheartedly but still choose selfish things, and then we justify these choices without facing our self-servedness. I am not condemning these actions; they are very human actions. However, when we in the church begin to gloss over these things and pretend like they aren't happening, it's the first divergence. It grows further when people stop being accountable for larger decisions, like how we spend our money or how we treat our family. This is a common trend among Christians. Seems like Paul might have been addressing these issues in the very beginning of the whole Church thing.

We constantly swing to and fro regarding these things, but when you are in leadership, the split seems to grow larger and more blatant. Due to the holiness we ascribe to church leaders (or perhaps the holiness they ascribe to themselves), there is extra demand for perfection, perseverance and G-dliness. This demand, unfortunately, does not often lead to increased levels of these characteristics; instead, it seems to cause them to find new and creative ways to hide their own sinful natures, or perhaps new ways to point away from their own flaws by focusing on the flaws of others.

Maybe a better solution would be to begin each relationship with two things in mind: our own broken soul with all of its needs, weaknesses and failures AND the cross of Christ that both offers us any hope of justice and shows us how G-d wants us to make our choices. We put others first, always, everywhere in every situation. We trust that although we don't know the answers, we have hope in this G-d who died. And hopefully, we learn to be honest and open always, not hiding behind our sunday school answers and shiny fake smiles...

Update on what's happenin:

* In Houston at the moment. Actually hanging out at my old place of employ - Christ UMC. Good to see some friendly faces and see how everyones doing...
* Been playing this game on facebook - iLike - its a music quiz. Fun times.
* Committed to lead worship officially at two churches in Dallas. That is fun, and a cool way for me to help earn some money while not exerting too much time.

What I'm readin:

* Still on GG&S ... still love it.

Random thoughts on my PVM:

Coming back to Sugar Land has jogged my memory a little bit. It is good seeing friends and feeling at home in a church building, but it also reminded me of why I left this church. The sharp divergence between my own personal experience and the words that I found myself speaking to the youth and members of the church was beginning to tear at me. Perhaps if we are sensitive to the tug and struggle of 'real life' and to the brokenness of the human soul, we would find a way to allow leadership in the church to truly exist within the Via Media. It seems that we are always asked in church leadership roles to slide away from the middle; maybe we think this will help drag others over towards the middle from their 'wanderings.'
I don't know the answers. But I do know that every time I felt like I had to hide a part of my own personal struggles when speaking to those who were struggling themselves, I was participating in injustice. I was perverting the truth, and manipulating the emotions of young people who could one day, be standing exactly where I was.
Maybe down the road I will begin to try and share my experiences and wisdom with young people again; but for now, I will focus on sharpening my senses, and listening harder to the echoes of G-d's music in this dark world.

List of stuff going on, reasons for blog, et al.

List of stuff going on in my life:

* Just moved to Dallas with my fiance, soon-to-be bride
* Applied to Perkins School of Theology to pursue a Masters of Theological Studies
* Applied to two jobs, one a part time job on campus at SMU, the other a part time job at a tutoring center around the corner from our apartment
* Am currently reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.
* Am currently learning Latin. Right now, I'm stuck on chapter 10 of Wheelock's Latin, and I hope to breakthrough and start regular Latin studies again soon.
* Just started a Blog.

Reasons for doing the aforementioned action:

* Got tired of just reading other people's blogs
* Decided it was high time I started writing again
* Needed yet another daily activity to add to my schedule
* Want to be famous.

Why "My Personal Via Media?" Well, that's a good question, anonymous voice in my head, and I will try my best to answer it. First off, Via Media is simply Latin for "Middle Way." It's the famous Anglican 'slogan,' and it sums up my theological, philosophical and personal convictions in two pretty sounding words. For the longest time, I vacillated between the extremes of both my faith and my emotions, likely to swing violently from one direction to another on a quite regular basis. Only in the past few years have I begun to find an increasing amount of joy in the quest for balance, stability and compromise. I find that my faith is strengthened when I listen honestly and openly to all parties around me; my beliefs are refined and sculpted as I keep exposing them to the chisel of strong dialogue; and my relationships are much more fruitful and much less unpredictable when I seek to constantly find the middle ground with the peoples in community around me.

It's my Personal Via Media (PVM) because I want a fun catch phrase, and the Anglican Communion already has dibs on plain ol' via media.