More about "the journey"

I have a friend and colleague who serves our United Church of Christ on the national level who has expressed his discomfort with the images of "pilgrimage" and "journey." He says he thinks it gives a blank check of sorts to those who are afraid of commitment, those who think that setting measurable goals is too "limiting," and those who are simply uninterested in getting things done.
Sometimes (his argument would be "most times") when people talk about "my experience" or "my pilgrimage" or "my journey" people may well be saying "I'm in process," or "I'm not willing to make a commitment," or "I simply don't really want to think about these things in any depth or detail."

I almost completely disagree with him about this. Like Yvette Flunder argued in the video we watched the other night, I think God's intention for and relationship with us become clearer and deeper as we imagine God being with us "on the way," and as we relinquish our need to defend at all costs our long-held ideas about how things should be, and where things should go, and how things should ultimately turn out.

None of that means that our behavior, or thinking, or prayer is aimless, goal-less, willy-nilly or non-intentional. Quite the opposite is true. Long ago, in his little book Intimacy, Father Henri Nouwen shared this from one his college students that talks about a different kind of destination for the kind of journey we'll be talking about:

I hope that I will always be for each person what that person needs me to be.
I hope that each person's death diminishes me, but fear of my own will never diminish my life.
I hope that my love for those I like will never lessen my love for those whom I do not.
I hope that another person's love for me will never be a measure of my love for that other.
I hope that every person will accept me as I am, but that I never will.
I hope that I will always ask forgiveness from others, but will never need to be asked for my own.
I hope that I will always recognize my limitations, but that I will construct none.
I hope that loving will always be my goal, but that love will never be my idol.
I hope that every person will always have hope.

Getting Ready for Session One

Here is something to jump-start our thinking for our first session next Tuesday...

The focus of this session is to try to think about a faithful life as more like a journey than a destination. The introduction to Living the Questions puts it this way:

People know that at its core, Christianity has something good to offer the human race. At the same time, many have a sense that they are alone in being a "thinking" Christian, and that "savaging" Christianity is a hopeless task...On any authentic spiritual journey, asking the hard questions is not only permitted, but necessary! What we learn along the way through difficulties and disequilibrium, mistakes and challenges, discoveries and unlearnings, is the the process is what's important. The unanswerable questions asked in the company of fellow seekers along the way become a central part of the process of the deepening quest, the broadening understanding, and the journey beyond our otherwise limited horizons. (from An Invitation to Journey, Living the Questions, (c) 2007)

Starting the Journey

Welcome to the blog for our new faith exploration journey!

Here's how our group is going to work.

First, those of us in the area covenant together to meet face to face once a month, on the 4th Tuesday of each month, beginning on February 24, 2009. We'll start at 6:30 PM, and end at 8 PM. Each gathering will include a "check in" time to get us started, acquainted, and back in touch with one another, an "input time" that will focus mostly on a new "Living the Questions" series that we'll partner with some Bible study and other tools, and a "journaling" assignment designed to keep us engaged with our journey between our meeting times.

Second, we also covenant together to check in on this site at least weekly. The discussion here will be aimed at continuing and enhancing our conversation between meetings. I will post something (a biblical reflection, some ideas for further thought, or some other related item) at least once a week to attempt to keep the fires burning, and the rest of the group is free to comment, either in response to what's posted, or what we took away from our last meeting, or our reaction to what someone else has posted. Everyone is free, of course, to post nothing at all, but we have all agreed to check in at least once a week to see what others are thinking. At our meeting on the 24th, we'll show everyone how this will work.

There are a few folks from our church family who are at some distance but who want to be part of the conversation. Our intention is to invite them to share the experience with us as much as they can.

Looking forward to sharing this journey with you!

Rob