Esquire is probably a good place to get an article published if you want to speak to those who might be a little cynical about religion.  I loved this article by Shane Claiborne that appeared in a recent issue of the gentlemen’s mag.

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity many of us have seen on TV and heard on the radio looks less and less like Jesus.

Those of you following my Twitter feed may have seen links to a fundraiser I’m involved with in support of Prostate Cancer Canada.  Moustaches are sprouting on men’s upper lips throughout the nation.  Take a look at the video below, and please consider making a donation to this good cause on my customized site (where you can also track my slow-but-steady progress).

A mentor showed me this Wendell Barry poem today.  A brilliant take on living life for what it was created to be.

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer. 

When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it. 

Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed. 

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest. 

Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years. 

Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men. 

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth? 

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts. 

As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. 

Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

 

 

One of our grants resulted in this documentary film, contemplatively crafted by Trevor Meier.   You can now purchase the dvd of this film which focuses on the inexplicable yet substantive hope rising out of the Rwandan genocide.  The film makes you pause, breathe again, and embrace hope.

This vignette, from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, reminded me of the time we opened our home to a woman and her daughter who were at the end of their rope.   They stayed with us for several months, and she overcame depression and a debilitating medical condition.  And then learned a skill, and eventually moved into subsidized housing.  She now works full time, and has her own apartment, and is a wonderful gift to many in her life.

Thanks Aurora for passing this on to me, and good luck in your work.

Aviva Community Fund has launched a fascinating process where they are selecting projects from across Canada to which they will disburse $500,000 in funding.  I became aware of it through Dion Oxford who came up with this creative idea for Gateway Linens.

Dion introduces the 108-bed shelter which serves men experiencing homelessness, and then continues with his creative idea:

Please register on the Aviva site and vote for Gateway Linens or another project you find worthwhile.  If you have your own idea that you think is spectacularly innovative, there are still 12 days left to submit it.

Just saw Relevant magazine’s review of a book I’ve been working my way through — Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of Image. This is a compilation of twenty years of superb writing and art on faith and the mystery of the human condition which has appeared previously in the quarterly journal.

I highly recommend it as a Christmas gift for the literary types on your list.

Relevant says:

Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of Image is a volume of greatest hits from the tiny quarterly Image, devoted to visual and literary attempts to grapple with questions of faith. Image was founded in 1989 by editor Gregory Wolfe and a handful of others, “to counter the notion  that great art could no longer be made by those who wrestle with matters of faith,” as he puts it in his introduction, “Something Understood.”  At first, some thought Image merely a “high art” outpost for conservative culture-warriors, but Wolfe offers a different vision: “Image sought to be a countervailing force … We chose presence over activism, being over doing,” by offering a collection of attempts “to limn the anguished and occasionally ecstatic glimpses human beings have of a presence that is wholly other and yet strangely intimate.”

Nonetheless, it is certainly true Image offers a range of content and perspectives unique within today’s higher criticism, which generally drips with disdain for religion. “In the pages of Image,” by contrast, “ancient scripture and contemporary literature have been interrogating one another,” creating a conversation whose contributors are “creed-sayers and grapplers, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and Jews, abstract and representational artists, the whole panoply of human experience.”

I have some exciting news!  For a few months now, a group of funders have been talking about how we can better serve our charity partners.  So often we urge organizations to work together, to collaborate, to leverage each others networks and strengths for a common purpose.  But as funders, we’ve typically worked in isolation from one another, and sometimes, it must be said, at cross-purposes.

So eight of us (seven foundations and one couple) have joined together for Stronger Together 2010.  Here is the text of the announcement below:

Stronger Together 2010 is a collaborative granting initiative of eight Canadian faith-based funders. We value the work that Christian-inspired charities accomplish in Canada and around the world and have gathered together to ensure these organizations are able to successfully weather current economic challenges and emerge stronger in years to come.

Together, we have committed to grant up to $1 million in 2010 towards helping these charities build their organizational strength through projects that address specific needs and achieve defined outcomes.  Canadian Christian charities are invited to apply for grant funding to support projects that will specifically and measurably grow their organizational strength.

Grant applications should communicate how the proposed short-term project improves the charity’s performance and how this increased organizational strength will benefit those who are ultimately served by the charity.

The synergies created through funders working together allow us to offer a web-based application system for grants which will be simultaneously considered by eight granting partners located in cities across Canada. This initiative will save charities money, time, and energy. It will also broaden a charity’s audience, introducing potential donors and innovative charities to each other.

Eligible charities are invited to submit applications between January 2, 2010 and midnight (EST) February 28, 2010. Following a thoughtful process of due diligence, granting decisions will be made in the late spring, with announcements of successful applicants on June 15, 2010.

We encourage all Canadian charities to think strategically about what it will take to grow their organizational strength and to apply to Stronger Together 2010. We look forward to working and growing together with you in this process.

For more information and to apply, visit the Stronger Together 2010 website at www.strongertogether2010.ca.

The funders gathering together for this initiative are:  Bridgeway Foundation, Caritate Foundation, Catalyst Foundation, Charis Foundation, John and Rebecca Horwood, Legacy Foundation of Canada (Family Hope Fund), Legacy Foundation of Canada (Legacy Trust), and Maranatha Foundation.

My sister-in-law Kim sent me an exceptional gift this week — it came in the form of a voluminous email attachment.  Charting the Unknown is her first book, to be published in March 2010 by Los Angeles-based Behler Publications.  I was touched that she trusted me with her baby … aside from her husband, kids and publisher, there are very few who will have read the manuscript.

Before page one ended I was sobbing loudly in our easy chair.  My wife deposited a box of kleenex on the side table, and I grabbed a wad.  By page three, I was laughing hysterically.  And so it went – an emotional and moving journey on a rollercoaster of waves – for 280 pages.  It’s an intentionally-crafted piece of art that will take your breath away.   Behler selects books that speak of personal metamorphosis, and this has happened to Kim through facing Fear straight on, and plowing through.

[Behler's mission is to] publish personal journeys with socially relevant themes: stories dealing with how people are influenced and changed by their experiences, and how they deal with those repercussions. Not only do we want strong, honest characters, but also strong attention to voice and development. We look for books where readers say, “I’m a better/more thoughtful/smarter person for having read this book.”

And now, a synopsis of Kim’s memoir:

Charting the Unknown is the story of Kim and Mike Petersen, who, while in college, were inspired to write their dreams on a piece of paper, which was unceremoniously stashed in Kim’s Abnormal Psych book.

The list was forgotten through the course of life; jobs, raising a family, and experiencing the loss of a child. The list miraculously reappeared at a time when their children nearly teenagers. One dream stood out – living on a boat – despite the fact that their boating experience consisted of several hours canoeing on a lake, and a week on a Carnival Cruise Ship.

Undaunted, they purchased an unfinished 65-foot power catamaran shell, sold everything, and moved from Toronto to West Palm Beach, Florida to finish constructing the boat and begin living aboard. They faced humorous obstacles, fears, each other, and themselves, as they adapted to a new environment.

As they ventured into 4,000 miles of open water and crossing the Atlantic, Kim ventured deep into her own soul for a final showdown of her own fears.

Read more of the publisher’s (wildly enthusiastic) thoughts on Kim’s book here and here.   For a foretaste of the book, subscribe to Kim’s blog here.

I’m attending a unique symposium this weekend at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Bloor Street in Toronto.  Cardus,  World Vision Canada, and the Canadian Urban Institute are collaborating in hosting a gathering of thinkers and practitioners to reflect on the role of the faith community in cities.   Think Different is going to be a (hopefully) honest look at whether religious communities benefit the urban fabric or not.  Speakers such as John Tory, Glen Murray, Karen Hamilton, and Christine Elliott will speak.  (Interesting that at least two of the speakers are contending for Mayor of Toronto in 2010.)

A book will also be launched to accompany the event.  You can preview it and order here.  To whet your appetite, I’ve included my contribution below:

I sat at the table chewing furiously on an overcooked steak.  Across from me was a former evangelical pastor, in tears, who told of his crisis of faith and recent decision to abandon his role at his church.  His belief system had been shaken to the core when the horrifying truth dawned on him: he no longer held to certain tenets of the tradition he had been preaching for ten years.  A literal interpretation of Scripture, a six-day creation, and blind commitment to male leadership in the church – all these issues became sharp sticking points for my friend.  While he continued to follow Christ wholeheartedly, he couldn’t make the rational leap to affirm some doctrines of his particular community.

But worse than the angst of his own personal dilemma was the intolerance for divergent opinion that existed in his congregation.  His church had not been a safe place for people to ask questions, admit doubt, probe truth, and express diversity of thought and practice.  Anyone who didn’t toe the party line was suspect, driving out those that couldn’t subscribe to the moralistic majority.  It was the kind of religious group that seems to get overexposed in national media and on YouTube, driving the impression that the church is filled with the intolerant.

In this case, push came to shove, and it was the pastor who had to leave.  So he resigned, seeking to serve God and his community outside the confines of the religious establishment.

It’s a story I’m hearing with greater frequency as a growing number of theological refugees exit inward-looking congregations to meet in homes and coffee shops, and serve those outside the church doors.  These people have not abandoned their commitment to Christ; they’ve left behind their allegiance to a religious system that can’t cope with diversity of thought and practice.

Churches and denominations more interested in fighting theological battles talk to themselves – loud, strident voices lead the debates that echo through the empty church building and in anonymous online forums.  When they do focus outward, it is to seek the vulnerable, proselytizing others to a proscribed way of thinking.  This rigid sequence is clear: you must believe our way before you can belong.

These last vestiges of a modern spirituality, based on a dated worldview, rear up intolerantly when pressed into the corner by a globalized culture.  Quibbling over words, and stocking our warehouse buildings with comfortable stacking chairs and Powerpoint projectors, these Christians seem to have all the answers.  But we’ve forgotten how to humbly say “I don’t know”, as well as “I’m sorry”.  And we’ve resisted learning how to live as people who follow Christ in the midst of the diversity of a complex culture.

My friend’s story would be utterly depressing if it were not for the many more people I meet on a daily basis who demonstrate the flipside of an ingrown spirituality.  Many are choosing an activist faith that takes one into the riskier alleyways and soup kitchens of service.  While it is “safer” to not venture outside the church walls, the more challenging option seems to prevail, often without the official sanction of a denomination or church.

These bold adventurers, motivated by a passionate faith and often some lingering doubts, are oriented towards serving people outside their four walls.   They have chosen to sacrifice the comforts of predictability, to follow Christ into the streets, institutions and businesses of the city.  Enmeshing themselves into the broader social fabric, they are net contributors, offering service and life to all with no strings attached.  Incorporating themselves into the broader community, eyes blinking as entering a bright room, they lean into inclusive approaches marked by actions before words.  They’ll offer a sandwich before an explanation.

My work brings me face-to-face with spectacular examples of hidden Christians who have organized themselves to live sacrificial lives of loving service in their communities.  Here are a few lesser known stars in the night sky:

• Gateway Centre for New Canadians in Mississauga, Ontario flings open the doors of their community centre to welcome hundreds of immigrants a month, including 250 Muslims who use the Christian centre for weekly Friday prayers.
• A Rocha’s community models sustainable environmental conservation through its leadership role in protecting the Little Campbell Watershed in South Surrey BC and parts of the Pembina Valley in southern Manitoba.
• My People International has a team that travels to remote indigenous communities in Canada’s vast northland, offering workshops and counseling for First Nations communities facing high suicide rates and sexual abuse.
• Word Made Flesh patterns itself after Mother Teresa, living in the bowels of gritty urban poverty and loving neighbours who are prostitutes, street kids, and war amputees in places like Kolkata, India and Freetown, Sierra Leone.
• Prison Fellowship Canada’s many volunteers visit those who never receive visitors, and offer prisoners skills and networks to adapt to post-prison life.

What is this dangerous journey we are called to as those who follow Christ outside the walls of our religious systems?  It’s one that does not reinforce and bulk up one’s own religious establishment, imposing burdensome regulations and expectations on people.  In fact, those were the types that Christ seemed to have the greatest issues with in His life.  Instead, those who believe Jesus is Lord imitate his trajectory downward and outward – He gave up His rights and came to serve; His life is an offering for all.  In like manner, followers of Christ identify with and serve others with great tolerance and respect, even when differences abound.  Approaches such as these create the environment for trust to be nurtured, and for transformation to be gifted to a community.