Popeye's Discontent

This week as we talk about our spiritual gifts, one of the topics is Divine Discontent. Bill Hybels of the Willow Creek Church wrote a book entitled Holy Discontent where he discussed the idea that our Holy discontent may lead us to our spiritual passion and our ministry. He quoted Popeye, who often got to a point of frustration, then action, where he would say, ”That’s all I can stands. I can’t stands no more!”

Bll Hybels posted a video about Holy discontent on his website billhybels.org. http://tube.willowcreek.com/lgdownload.aspx?filePath=summit2010&contentType=video/mpeg&fileName=SummitSunday2010_Hybels.mov This was a talk he gave at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It took awhile to load on my computer, but it is truly inspiring.

Fit for a King

I practiced law for more than 20 years in a rural area of Florida. During that time, my law partner and I sometimes received legal fees and gifts from clients in a manner other than cash. One client brought me turnip greens. We received watermelons. My law partner became the owner of a Great Dane. One of my clients did a reverse fee- she took two of my cat’s kittens.

My most memorable gift was paid to me in chickens. These were not squawking, flapping chickens, or poultry purchased from Winn Dixie. My client called them “yard chickens”- we would now refer to them as “free range”. This woman caught her yard chickens, scalded, plucked, cleaned and dressed them. She prepared them to roast, with side items, stuffing and gravy.  This simple meal was fit for a king because it was a gift given from this woman’s heart.

As we read this week about stewardship and our giving to God, I remembered this gift to me, which included this woman’s time, talents, gifts and service. Are my gifts to God gifts from the heart, fit for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

We are asked why giving is a matter of the heart- what do you think?

The Blessing of Being Present

I was reminded today in our reading about the idea of being “present”. I regularly find myself distracted, thinking about ten things other than the one thing on which I would like to be focused.

I also recall times when I have been intentionally present and the blessing those times have been to me. When my daughter, Kate, was 13, she, my husband and I sang together in a community choir. That Christmas we sang Messiah in concert four times. At one of those concerts, I remember feeling overwhelmed with blessing- the blessing of being together as a family singing to the glory of God. I had no idea that during the next five months we would be dealing with my husband’s illness and eventual death from cancer. The picture of us, singing together as a family, remains in my heart.

                In Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Sacred Rhythms, she offers a prayer- “Oh God, give me more moments like this- moments when I am fully present to you and to others in love. Moments when I am connected with what is purest and most authentic within me and able to respond to your presence in that place. I want to live my life in such a way that there is more of this!”

                How have you been blessed by being fully present?

Who told you about Jesus?

     This week we were asked to remember the people who were instrumental in leading us to Christ. Two people in my life who were unabashed in their witness were my grandmother, Clara Mills, and her neighbor, Helen Parker- "Parkey" to me. I remember singing "Jesus Loves Me" with Grandmother and Parkey. Parkey was a Baptist and had this sweet smile when she would talk about Jesus. She wrote poems about him which she read to me. Her husband Dr. Parker, who I called Dockey Parkey, was a dentist. He had a dental chair in his garage. I assume that Parkey stayed prayed up for both of them.
     There was a copy of Warner Sallman's "Head of Christ" in my grandmother's living room and a painting of the child Jesus in her bedroom. Grandmother prayed for me. She also quizzed me about whether I had attended Sunday School. At Christmas, Grandmother placed a little plastic creche on her mantle. It was well loved. Some of the camels' heads were broken off but you could still see Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger. Grandmother had Christmas candles- an angel choir. I still have the candles. They remind me of Grandmother, her love for Jesus and her love for me.
      Who told you about Jesus?

The Wesleyan Quadrilateral

      Welcome to the blog! I hope that you are enjoying A Disciple’s Path and will comment on the parts of this week’s reading that have especially intrigued you.

      In the reading this week, I noted Rev. Harnish’s comment about United Methodist doctrine affirming the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.(Workbook p. 12) That caused me to go back to my class notes from a class at Asbury taught by Dr. Steve Harper in a lesson entitled “Wesley’s Hermeneutic: The Quadrilateral”. A hermeneutic is a method or theory of interpretation.

      The four parts of the quadrilateral are scripture, tradition, reason and experience. I had incorrectly thought of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral as an equilateral shape. Dr. Harper said that the most important part of the quadrilateral is scripture. He shared with us an analogy by Dr. Paul Chilcote of a wind chime with scripture as the major post, and with reason, tradition and experience striking the post at different times and for different reasons.

     Dr. Harper said that in considering a theology, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral is used as a tool. Today we tend to forget about tradition and over emphasize experience. He said that without tradition, we miss the great cloud of witnesses from history. Without tradition, if we move toward scripture/reason it creates intellectualism; if we move toward scripture/experience it creates subjectivism.

     Dr. Harper explained that scripture prevents theology from being humanistic, with man as the measure of all things. Tradition prevents theology from being all about us now (thinking we have the truth and we cannot have fellowship with you). Reason prevents theology from being superficial and unexamined and detached from the rest of life. Experience prevents theology from being impersonal, distant and unreal.

     As Rev. Harnish says, "(t)he convergence of these elements guides United Methodists in discussing important matters of biblical, doctrinal, and social concern." Workbook p. 12.

WATCH THIS SPACE!! Coming Soon... Kathy Burns will begin posting for online discussion about our church-wide study, "A Disciple's Path."