alancreech

inappropriate thoughts

2009-07-04T09:38:00.004-04:00

Yeah, that got your attention, didn't it? Things are not as you suppose, at least not that I'm talkin' on here about. Anyway, today's inappropriate thoughts are as concerns the 4th of July in the United States. Most would find my thoughts today, at least, inappropriate, if not downright treasonous or even "sinful." Such it will have to be I suppose.

Recently, I've been re-reading through Thomas Merton's The New Man, highlighting as I go. I have to be careful not to highlight the whole book. A couple of days ago, perhaps providentially, I read this little passage, which lies in the middle of a discussion of something else which I will also share here. For now, though, just this bit. This is no brand new thought for me - he just says it well, and I thought I'd share it with you today, inappropriate or not.

...while we learn to be humble and virtuous as individuals, we allow ourselves to commit the worst crimes in the name of "society." We are gentle in our private life in order to be murderers as a collective group. For murder, committed by an individual, is a great crime. But when it becomes war or revolution, it is represented as the summit of heroism and virtue. —Thomas Merton, The New Man

Wait there mister, it's not murder if it's done in a "just war" - many don't even worry whether it's allegedly "just" or not. Anyway, this is the argument. I certainly don't have room in a blog post to fully refute such a thing. I will, though, say this - in the case of a revolution, things do get a bit hairy with any kind of argument to justify Christian participation in the killing of other human beings. Revolution is not done as the action of any State. It is, by definition, not sanctioned or official as "war." It is disobedient, rebellious treason. It is often accompanied by what we now define as terrorism. Most revolutionaries do not wear uniforms. They have no President, no government. They may well be organized, but officially speaking, they are merely a gang of disgruntled citizens picking up what they can to throw at, to shoot at whom they can, to get the change they want.

Now, whether or not this is ever a justifiable act is another story. And I said "justifiable act," not a justifiable act for a Christian person to be involved in - this TOO is another story. Irony alert: I cry when I watch Band of Brothers or that last scene in Saving Private Ryan - can't help it. I want to stand up and salute that grave with him, tears streaming down my face. When I watch Michael Collins or The Wind That Shakes the Barley, my blood boils and the IRA makes a whole hell of a lot of sense to me. There is a worldly nobility to these kinds of actions. I can deeply understand some of the whys. Of course, I'm not sure not wanting to pay extra taxes and being in control of your own economy is on a par with having your language and religion suppressed along with the constant violence which accompanied the enforcement of such laws - not quite. Anyway, I just wanted to say I have emotional understanding of such things. But...

But what? Just pick up a freakin' musket and get on the line, citizen! We might burn down your shop if you don't - might, just get out there! Hey, my ancestors fought in that mess, volunteered for it, and King George had given them hundreds of acres of land. I'm off track - but what? But JESUS, that's what. But as a Christian, I don't need to be putting myself in the middle of a worldly battle that has me taking aim at, stabbing or blowing up my fellow human beings, perhaps even my siblings in Christ, even if it makes some kind of sense to do so. Some things trump others - and my identity in Christ is the BIG trump card - even if I'm not fully formed in it - all the more reason why I shouldn't jump into something broken like a war or a revolution. I'm helping to perpetuate the brokenness of the world if I do this.

I suggest we all sit out - all those who belong to Jesus sit out the wars and revolutions and anything else that has us killing one another. We sit out on abortion, most of us. That's seen as a broken necessity by many. Why not war and killing grown people? We sit out on divor... wait, sorry, I thought I had one there. We simply too often take the pragmatic road, we Christians. Going against the grain is too hard. We'll even come up with complicated theologies that help us not go against the grain. It's hard for me to understand how this is not seen. One can just keep talking, I suppose. And when it comes to any future bloody revolutions, and there will be, don't be naive, I'll be sitting those out and encouraging my siblings to do the same. Pax vobiscum.

the right to bear arms in church

2009-06-30T13:28:00.003-04:00

Hmm - nothin' like a little controversy... As to whether one should be able to or should carry a concealed weapon in a church assembly - I think I have the answer - well, not me, but here you go...

"Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, 'Hail Rabbi!" and he kissed him. Jesus answered him, 'Friend, do what you have come for.' Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, 'Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. (...Then he touched the servant's ear and healed him. —Luke 22:51) Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?" —Matthew 26:49-53

A new order was being ushered in. It's time to put the swords away, or the Glocks as the case may be. To have a constant attitude of carrying these weapons to use against other men is, as I see it, moving against the tide of the New Order in Christ. And He healed the man - even further into the new Way - not only not enacting vengeance on the perceived enemy, but showing Love. Love is, after all, ultimately the only tool able to make a sword into a plowshare.

two links

2009-06-25T14:02:00.002-04:00

I'm not usually a "linker" when it comes to blogging, but here and there something will hit me and I want to share it with you, whoever you are. Today I have two blog posts - linked in order of having read them - from two friends.

A Few Thoughts On Church - Part 2: Bryan Sherwood. Bryan has been a friend for a while and was, at one point for a while, with his wife, a member of the small community I led/pastored, which met in our home. I'm a tad humbled at some of what he's shared here and in the previous post. But he's sharing more than about that - talking about prayer, community and liturgy - good stuff from deep inside his personal experience.
Where To Find God: Kyle Potter. Kyle has also been a friend for a few years and, like Bryan, was a part of Vine & Branches. Kyle has quite the set of experiences in his young life, and shares about a significant one in this post. Here's a quote a love - you'll have to read the story to get the context... "I don't have a proper answer, but this is what I do seem to have: a god who hangs on a cross, naked and dead." Good, good.

some pictures and some thoughts

2009-06-21T11:19:00.002-04:00

There's my Father's Day breakfast. No, my children didn't wake in the early hours of the morning and make it and bring it to me in bed. Half of them aren't here at the moment - Mama's at work, Meaghan's at work, Katey just came home from spending the night at a friend's, Conor just woke up and McKenzie's at Mammaw and Pappaw's house. So, I made it myself and ate it myself. A little later, Katey, Conor and I will drive to meet my parents, probably in London, to eat together with them and pick up the Kenz. Then we'll come back home and stay out of the hot some more I guess. That'll be Father's Day for us. Oh, and I received nice cards from each of my children and a gift card to Sportsman's Warehouse - very nice.

Here is the product of my labor yesterday in the garden. The tomatoes were getting a bit large, so I had to make a trip to Lowe's and get some wire fencing and stakes to cage them bad boys up. At the Garden Mother's suggestion (no, I'm not a pagan, I'm talking about Liz), I also made a climbing fence deal for the cucumbers there so they don't take over the garden. It was good, monastic work. I look forward to more of it as the crops develop. We also did a good bit of weeding, in which I took a good part, in the last couple of days. Along with the rain making what we planted go nuts, it also had fed the weeds a good bit, so we had to thin things out.

As I was weeding I had a thought about the Scripture that tells us - generally speaking here - to just let the weeds and the wheat (crops) grow together, not to possibly uproot what you're trying to grow by going nuts pulling out all the weeds. Sure - make sense. Here's my thought: this is really more about not weeding in the younger, more tender years of your plants. You have possibly noticed that weeds and crop plants look a lot alike in the early days - hard to tell apart - and easy to pull up one with the other if you're too worried about it. You've got to be careful. But, when my tomatoes, for example, get more mature, larger, their identity is much more defined as something distinctly different than any weed around them. Weeding, at this point, can be important. Too many weeds can "steel" nutrients from the growing tomatoes, and water. Nice spiritual analogy there I think. And it helps to pull the pesky weeds out by the roots - otherwise they just grow back up too quickly. And mulch helps - that ground cover around and between your plants to keep in moisture and retard week growth. We use mowed grass clippings - works pretty well. Ah, the analogies keep on flowing at this point. Weeding, mulching, watering, staking and caging to guide the growth and protect them from high winds, etc. Lay that over your life and see where it fits. Peace to you.

sacred heart 09

2009-06-19T15:16:00.003-04:00

Father, we rejoice in the gifts of love
we have received from the hear of Jesus your Son.
Open our hearts to share his life
and continue to bless us with his love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This is the convenant which I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them,
and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
—Jeremiah 31:33

oremus

2009-06-17T21:09:00.003-04:00

Well, this is something that's been on my back burner for a while now and I thought this was as good a time as any to just get it started. Oremus means "let us pray," basically, in Latin. For our purposes here, it's a new podcast that I'll be doing about liturgical prayer and monastic practices for everyday Christians "in the world." This is something I've been thinking about doing for a while, almost a year. I actually sat down out back and recorded the first podcast last September and never did anything with it. I guess now I'm doing something with it.

Praying the Liturgy of the Hours has been a very good thing for me for several years, even as sporadic as my practice has been sometimes. And I've loved being able to introduce this kind of prayer to others along the way. I have felt as if that, along with thinking about some other ways of living monastically "in the world" are a part of my personal vocation - part of it. So this will be some part of living that out for me. I hope it proves to be helpful for anyone who listens.

The first issue is ready to go. I've set up a simple site to house the podcast episodes. You can check that out here. The podcast is also now available, all one episode of it, on iTunes. You can subscribe to the Oremus Podcast through this feed. The first episode is basically an introduction to the what and why of it, I pray one of the little hours from the LOTH, etc. I hope, in the future, to be talking about some "how-tos" of praying the Office, other contemplative ways of prayer/meditation, interview friends from different Christian traditions who pray in this way, etc. I'm looking forward to it. Pray for me that I keep to this and make it a regular thing.

the Body of Christ

2009-06-14T22:23:00.002-04:00

Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail;
Over ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.

Word made flesh, the bread of nature,
By his word to flesh he turns;
Wine into his blood he changes:
What though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
Faith its lesson quickly learns.

Today is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ - Corpus Christi. We celebrated in a special way this central part of our worship as the Body - the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus in our midst, given as our spiritual food. It's not the only way Jesus is present among us, or in us, but this is one of the more tangible ways we can receive Him, come into union with Him, experience His Life.

We did the procession as well. The Bishop carried the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance out of the church and we all processed around the block singing the hymn above. I like that hymn. Those are only two verses I chose to share - the first and the fourth. That part about our senses not seeing any change but our faith learning the lesson - good stuff. He spoke about the symbolism of how we receive Christ into ourselves in the church and take Him out into the world - also good stuff.

a little merton pilgrimage

2009-06-11T22:42:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Jim Martin, S.J. from America Magazine for this little short pilgrimage to a Merton site - 35 Perry St. in New York, where he lived while attending Columbia University. Pretty cool - just thought I'd share.

loth @ ctk

2009-06-11T09:27:00.003-04:00

LOTH@CTK stands for Liturgy of the Hours at Christ the King - our parish. When I first came back into the Catholic Church I pretty much stayed quiet and to myself. I didn't want to go in trying to do all kinds of things and "be somebody" right out of the gate. The thing is, I'm not right out of the gate - that's part of the point. I'm this guy who has been a Christian and living the Christian life for, at the time, 27, now 29 years. I had grown and learned and become this leader, then a pastor, a thinker, a spiritual director to some - et cetera, et cetera.

But here's the thing - in this arena, no one knows anything about me. I'm the new guy. I felt, really, that God was having me sit still for a while to re-orient, to recover. He's been doing this to me for a while - as a wise, old spiritual director said to me - "making me small." Not fun, but good, he said hesitantly. So, the part of the new guy, the little guy, the nobody, was/is new to me. I haven't been that for a long time. But this is the way it is. I've been learning how to deal with it.

One of the things I said I'd love to do even since I was being quiet in the pews, was to help, somehow, to introduce praying the Liturgy of the Hours to the people in the pews with me. Most Catholics - really - aren't that familiar with it as a way of daily prayer for them. That's for Priests and Religious (vowed monks and nuns and brothers). Well, it's for all of us and there has been, for a while, a resurgence of liturgical prayer among all the people. I've certainly been a part of this in other Christian territory. The wider Body of Christ is catching hold of this fast.

So, not long ago, I met with our Pastor and mentioned that I'd like to help do something like this - teaching people how to pray the Office and making it available to them in the parish. I ended up talking to my Deacon friend, Tim and found out this is one of his "things" too, and we went to work making it happen. Last week, it became a reality at the Cathedral parish of Christ the King. We had an introductory session to go over what it is (you see the group there seated), the history, why we pray in this way, and how to do it - then we prayed Evening Prayer together. Tim, Fr. Al (both pictured there) and I tag-teamed at the teaching thing, then we went into our side chapel that we had set up choir style (photo 3 there) and prayed Vespers together. Very cool.

20+ people showed up for the first session - great! We're doing this now every Wednesday night at 7:30pm at the Cathedral - only Evening prayer, no more intro sessions. Last night was our second week - news is getting around because more people showed up than last week - good stuff. We're using the small prayer book called Shorter Christian Prayer, which has only Morning, Evening and Night prayer for the 4-week Psalter rhythm. We bought several and have them available for people to use. Several people have bought them from us as well, to take home. Hopefully, they will begin using them during the week at home as well.

All this has been very fulfilling for me, and I know it's not all about me - but I'm grateful that I've been able to be a part of helping this happen. I think there is part of my own vocation in doing this. I see a dim shadow of things to come, of people learning and living in a rhythm of prayer, together...

trinity

2009-06-07T12:57:00.002-04:00

Blessed be God the Father and his only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit:
for he has shown that he loves us.

+

Let us pray to our God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God, we praise you:
Father all-powerful, Christ our Lord and Savior, Spirit of love.
You reveal yourself in the depths of our being,
drawing us to share in your life and your love.
One God, three Persons,
be near to the people formed in your image,
close to the world your love brings to life.
We ask you this, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
one God, true and living, for ever and ever. Amen.

+

Today is Trinity Sunday, when we celebrate the essence of God as three in One, God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Of course this deep revelation of Who God Is, is special to all of us who are Christians. Although we don't fully understand it with our intellects, we are made able by His Grace to spiritually understand it, and Him. As we are being transformed into His Image, in and through the action of the Trinitarian God, we become more and more able to grasp the significance of this mystery.

I have a personal connection to God as Trinity in that I was birthed into Christ in a church called Holy Trinity - and wait, that's not all! The man who opened the Gospel of Christ to me, who baptized and confirmed me, who was a deeply important early mentor and spiritual director to me, was a member of a religious order called The Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity - Fr. Killian Mooney, S.T. There Trinity Missions aren't there in Harlan any more - not for a long time, but there were there for quite a while and I was a product, so to speak, of their missions there. I'm grateful they were there and that Fr. Killian was there in the right place and right time to help usher me into the Kingdom. I could probably say a lot more about God as Trinity and our own nature as His Children, community, etc., but that's really all that I have for today. Peace.

as of tonight

2009-06-01T23:31:00.001-04:00

Just in case you didn't notice there on the left - thanks to a little trip to the pond tonight...

013

go and be

2009-05-31T21:19:00.002-04:00

Pentecost. The Easter season is officially over. Time to get Ordinary again. Today their waiting came to an end and the Holy Spirit "came down" upon them, and within them, to give them power - to give US power to serve, to go and be Christ to the world - to Love as He Loves, to speak as He spoke, to be the continuation of the Incarnation. ALL of us. All of us. Not just the Bishops and the Priests and Deacons and Pastors and Ministers. The Holy Spirit is given to us all, as members of the One Body. So, don't just sit there. GO and BE. You don't have to do some big spectacular thing. That's not necessary. Just be in Him - continue to do what belongs to being in Him and then you will be who and what you're supposed to be.

a link on memorial day

2009-05-25T10:19:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I wonder if in the morass of my life presently, I have lost something. I think I have lost some of my voice, some of the boldness I used to speak with about many things. I think I am afraid - of what or whom, I do not quite know. Perhaps today I will at least live vicariously through the words of a brother, whom I do not know, who's voice certainly still has a sting to it. The post I'm linking to is 2 years old, but still rings out pretty clearly on the subject at hand: Amercian civil religion, syncretism, Christian participation in warfare and the like. These are things which I have developed deeply conscientious views about over the years. All the readers of this blog will certainly not agree on this issue, but it may be a bit of good, alternative thought on the matter - worth checking out.

From catholicanarchy.org > Memorial Day and the religious syncretism of the state

PEACE be with you.

let's blog > life update

2009-05-22T15:10:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm still drinking coffee - approximately one cup every morning, sometimes two. This is probably more symbolic of "life goes on" than anything I suppose. There are certainly times when, generally speaking lately, life sucks - but it still goes on. We still manage to get up and do whatever it is we do during the day. All our kids are still at home, although a couple of them are hardly "kids" any more. I think I like that. I know you're supposed to be a good, tough parent who wants their kids to move out on their own and be independent young women and men, taking on the world, but give me a freakin' break! No, I can't say that I'm happy about that idea. Do I want them to be good and healthy, spiritually sound, Christian adult people? Sure I do. I just like having them close. The "letting go" thing is very difficult for me.

It's baseball season again and that means family schedule chaos around here. My 15 year old son, Conor, has played some form of baseball since he was probably 4. He's in his last year of city league ball this year - Babe Ruth League - and we're in the swing. Practice and ballgames very week - some of the normal drama that goes along with baseball teams and leagues at this level: parents, coaches, players all hollerin' at each other, agendas, blah, blah, blah. All these things are reasons I'd never be an umpire or a baseball coach at this level. Sitting on the sidelines is better than going to jail for bustin' somebody in the mouth. Sad, but that's how it can be. Conor, though - this is a boy who is not too affected by all that. He likes playing and has fun even when others are bent out of shape. Good for him. He's playing first base this year and has done well. So, we're half-way through the season - fold out camp chairs, sunflower seeds, gatorade - moving right along.

That's a beet there - well, the leaves of a beet plant, the beet is growing in the dirt (which is what they taste like if you ask me). I don't like beets, but Liz does, so we grow them. It's garden time. That's a good thing. It's Liz's passion, and has become a good thing for me as well. I tend to concentrate on the tomatoes for some reason. Now, I don't like to eat raw tomatoes either, just cooked in various forms, so go figure. It's very monastic work for me to putter around the garden - watering, tending, making sure the weeds don't take over, etc. We garden organically, so things are a bit messier. No weed killers, pesticides, fertilizers - none of that. There are good, healthy, natural ways to do all that. But you do have more bug holes in your leaves, more weeds or grass growing randomly and you might not have giant, mutant-sized fruits and veggies. It's fine, though. We still have several jars of canned tomatoes from last year, and it looks like we'll have even more this year. The rest is as follows: beets, red onions, potatoes, green bell peppers, jalepeno chilis, cucumbers, corn, and 3-4 different kinds of tomatoes (mostly Roma).

I'm still making rosaries and selling them from time to time, so listen, go buy you one or two, or get some for presents. They're cool rosaries - seriously. :^) The sales seem to come in spurts. Advent and Lent were big times, and another time when Michael Spencer got his Baptist head handed to him for promoting the horrid practice of praying with prayer beads - aagghhh!!! Kind of hilarious if it wasn't so sad, but such is the screwed up Body of Christ on earth I reckon. So, I thank those of you who have supported my rosary-making habit by purchasing or encouraging your friends to buy my hellish prayer beads. Please don't stop now - there are so many pockets not holding one of these fine pieces yet in the world. :)

Church - yep, still a part of it. I haven't jumped ship yet. I certainly have that urge sometimes, but I'm sure I'm not alone. I've picked back up the mantle of (now let me be canonically correct here) Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Eucharist - aka, Eucharistic Minister - Lordeee. I like doing that. It's just a small, simple thing, but something I like. I've been helping on the formation committee for small groups, or small faith communities in the parish. I've got the experience to be able to help in some way, so I'm doing that. I'm a bit idealistic, I find, when it comes to these things, so I get a little frustrated, but that's fine. It's not all about what I think it should be for sure. The most "exciting" thing I've been doing is helping initiate the practice of praying the Liturgy of the Hours in our parish - to teach people what it is, how to do it, how formational it can be. So, we're starting by praying Vespers together with an intro session on June 7th - nice. My Deacon friend, Tim, and I have been working on this thing and it's coming to fruition - good stuff. And of course, off in the distance, in my heart and in my head, is a bell ringing on a foggy morning, friends walking together to pray the Morning Office, their lives being formed together into His Image...

you do what?

2009-05-07T12:57:00.000-04:00

I just rescued my prayer habit by praying the little mid-morning office, and I ran across a line in the Psalm (119) that really bothers me. I've read it, prayed it many times before and it always bothers me, and here's the deal: I think it should bother me, bother us. I'm really thinking that this line shouldn't be one that we utter in ourselves, as Christians, as those who are wrapped up in the Life and Love of Jesus, about anyone. Here it is in all it's anti-glory...

I look at the faithless with disgust;
they ignore your promise.

Really? You're gathering up the gaul to say that? I pray it because it's a part of Scripture, but whenever I run across this little ditty, I go into "no, this is not the way God wants me to think" mode. I didn't include it at first, but the line just before that really gives an extra distasteful punch to the whole thought. We should not find this very appetizing...

I have not swerved from your will.

Wow. You haven't? I doubt that very seriously big boy. I have. I have swerved from His will. And I might be tempted at times to "look at the faithless with disgust" but very quickly the hammer of my own faithlessness comes down on my heart and says, "STOP!" No. No. But I see this constantly. I see us doing this. OK, here - was the adulterous woman sitting on the ground before Jesus and all those men, faithless? Was she one of the faithless? Sure she was. Was there anything like disgust in the implied eyes of Jesus toward this woman? It doesn't really look that way to me. How might she have fared in front of some of us? You may not want to answer that question. Just let it lie. The answer is far too depressing.

Even if, and I'm certainly not there - even if we have been transformed into the Image of Christ to a very high degree, I'm thinking our attitudes will not have been transformed in this direction, that we would then be able to look with disgust on all the pitiful, faithless, un-transformed people walking around us. Save us from this, Lord Jesus.

re-post > 08-06-2002 > we already had it

2009-04-29T20:40:00.002-04:00

Apparently, I was following up, as it happened, on the post from the day before, and not even on purpose - cool. This is important stuff I think - the concept. I like the memory of going to High On Rose too, which no longer exists - back when there was smokin' goin' on in bars in Lexington.

Went to High on Rose again last night to check out the open mic night with Ashley McGlone. My boy up and played a couple of tunes last night and did very well. I think he was well received. That was fun. Had a couple of short conversations with some guys I met there at the bar - interesting. I hope Brian only drank the 4 some kind of Vodka drinks I saw him have - girlfriend pain.

Just before I went to bed last night, after I showered the smoke smell off me, I reached down into the packed drawers of my nightstand to find some kind of book. I pulled out Merton's Disputed Questions. I had one little green tag stuck in the middle of it, marking a quote - a very providential quote as it happens. Here it is and you'll see what I mean.

In the story of the fall of Adam, we see the tempter apparently suggesting that man attain to what he already possessed. Eritis sicut dii. But man was already "like unto God." For in the very act of creation God had said: "Let us make man to our image and likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Satan offered man what he already had, but he offered it with the appearance of something that he did not have. That is to say, he offered man the divine likeness as if it were something more than God had already given him, as if it were something that could be his apart from a gift of God, apart from the will of God, or even against the will of God.

How about that sports fans? Pretty wild. Just driven home all the more. The thing we seem to think about most often in relation to this "fall" business is "disobedience" to a specific command. God said "don't eat that stuff" and Adam did, and he's out. This is a huge problem in our notion of what it means to have a relationship with God I think. Is it based on these legal notions of keeping and breaking - about doing some thing or some series of things in order to be acceptable to Him and to ourselves? I hope not. No. It's about being who we were created to be, about our allowing Him to create His likeness in us and not trying to create it ourselves in some false way, even if it seems more apparent.

re-post > 08-05-2002 > seeing ourselves

2009-04-22T10:51:00.002-04:00

The subject matter of this post is, as I see it, some extremely important stuff. They way we think about our "original brokenness," our separation from God and what constitutes it, is very important. And it goes on to elaborate about how this effects our life, even our Christian life now. Seeing ourselves doing and being good - hmmm. Oh, and the link to my friend Paul Fromont is an old one, but I left it there for nostalgia's sake.

Continuing the blogersation with Paul... I think this was important stuff he posted yesterday. This James Houston quote - "Prayer that is done ‘because I have always prayed’ inoculates us against true prayer, preventing us from finding a living relationship with God" - is extremely good. That along with the Screwtape Letters quote about how the demons "...should try to get them to ‘feel good’ about their prayers. Wormwood should divert their attention from the relationship of prayer to the feelings instead." says tons!

This business about us being aware of ourselves doing impressive spiritual things is such an important thing. We don't think about this. We simply take for granted that we should be looking at ourselves doing good in order to make sure that we are in fact doing it. And of course we are to then be happy about what we have seen. What is that? What have we just done? We need to think about that.

It reminds me of something I heard Thomas Merton talking about (I sound like I was a 20 year old monk in 1968) - as he borrowed from Martin Buber (a mystic Jewish writer), about how Adam's sin, Original Sin, was in fact that Adam was trying to be good - wow! He said "don't lynch me!" You can imagine why. Whaaat!? Yip, Adam's dorky deal was that he took someone else's word that he needed to do this thing in order to be like God.

It was that he was not acutely aware that he already WAS like God! He already was good. he simply wasn't aware of this fact as we are used to it. His stupid deal was that he forfeited his simple created goodness which he was not able to observe for a false self-created goodness that he was able to LOOK AT, so that he could see that he was being good. Something to think about.

re-post > 06-03-2002 > the Christ follower

2009-04-16T10:24:00.002-04:00

I had this thought the other day after I started this re-post party - hmmm, when an artist/singer starts putting out "greatest hits," doesn't that mean they've sort of had it, that they're fading into the twilight of their careers? A little disturbing - maybe I should look at it - aaaw, never mind, have fun.

In this post, you'll notice a running theme, connected to the previous one - Transformation. I would bet this is one of the top 3 underlying subjects I deal with in all my writing/thinking.

"Christ follower" - OK, that's the cool new term for a "Christian." did you not know that yet? Oh, sorry - If you were formerly known as a "Christian," you are now to be referred to as a "Follower of Christ." Interesting. It sounds sort of "faddy" to me. I think I'm going to get in trouble now.... officially, right now.

I understand where this is coming from I think. It seems that quite a number of "Christians" think that all there is to being whatever it is you call it, is to hit an altar and say the "sinner's prayer" in order to go to heaven, or, more likely in many cases, in order NOT to go to Haaayyuuullll! Apparently, those who came up with the new moniker are overly familiar with this variety of (insert name)s. Those who really don't think the rest of your life matters all that much, just as long as you "get saved" and go to heaven when you die.

I said, apparently "they" are familiar with these people. I am not. I may have heard of some of these creatures (like Bigfoot), so they've got to be out there I guess. I actually think Bigfoot is out there so these freaky Christians just HAVE to be. I don't really know any of them though. I know (perhaps you can relate) mostly those who, yes, think they got saved to go to heaven (I'll give you that) but who are fixated on how they live their lives - on what they do and what they don't do - how much they pray - how many things they are "believing God for" on a daily basis - how much work they do for the church - how many other people they lead to faith in Christ per month, et cetera, et cetera. Basically, it's all about them, about how they act, what they do, and on and on. This is what I see. Maybe I'm just not running in the same circles.

I agree, have taught, and believe that it is absolutely not the point of being a Christian to go to heaven. I think that is merely a by-product of being a person recreated in the image of Christ. As one with the Spirit of God in you, you just will be in the realm of God's Kingdom in that other dimension just as you are now in this physical life. It's not the goal. The goal is to be what God intended us to be in the first place - God-like beings. Not merely "human" beings - people with the eternal spiritual nature of God in us (as was breathed into us in the beginning). Obviously, then, this has all to do with being transformed fully into those kind of people, of living that out holistically. BUT, it is not merely a matter of imitation, of doing what Jesus did. Without that internal spiritual connection we are not able to do that.

I guess I'm saying that I understand all the rethinking and redirection, etc. But in the midst of our pendulum swinging, can we not forget the inward, spiritual, metaphysical elements please. I think we can have both. I mean, we can talk of being "born" from above as well as "growing up" from above or in the spirit. We can talk of initially becoming an adopted member of the family as well as then growing up in and learning what it means to be a member of the family. We have moved into the new house, but don't know our way around yet, etc. I hope any of that made any sense.

re-post > 03-08-2002 > a new kind of guts

2009-04-14T18:25:00.001-04:00

What are we? I mean, did God create a purposely faulty bunch? Did He intend for us to have a nature that had a propensity to move against Him? Silly God. He would indeed be silly - eternally silly I guess - if He would have done such a thing. But I don’t believe that He did that. I don’t think we were created to be separated from Him. In fact, I believe when He “breathed life into us” that pile of dirt became a being like unto Himself - that that breath was His very life essence. What a noble thing. “Let us make one like us” God said to Himself, and then He did.

That is what we’re supposed to be. To be called a human being was not supposed to be an insult to an Angel but something which garnered a response like “I wish it was so.” But we are not that. And as I remember, a few of the Angels quite left their created order as well.

What is the Jesus thing all about? Did He simply come to be an example (WWJD)? Are we supposed to look at His life and emulate it? It IS written “be imitators of God...” you know. Well, I think its a bit more involved than that isn’t it. If we were simply able to look at that life and make the choice to do what He did, ironically, we wouldn’t need Him at all really. That all takes place on the outside. We look at something, we imitate it. Ask my friends, I can imitate with great skill just about anybody I pay enough attention to - but that doesn’t make me Hank Hill does it? Or anyone else - because that’s an external thing. It doesn’t change who I am.

Too many Christians have ignored the mystical aspects of what we’re all about for too long. Its all in our heads I’m afraid - even with those who talk about the “heart” alot. The Jesus thing is about internal transformation. Its about metaphysics. Its about unseen eternal reality. And no, I’m not a gnostic! He came and did what He did, became what and whom He became so that we could become something and someone else too. Our eternal insides change when we become Christians, and then we begin a journey toward full and holistic transformation. The behavior part follows. We’re waaay too concerned about what we do or don’t do. This concern, again ironically (lots of irony going on here), keeps us in that realm - in the realm where everything is about behavior - about doing and not being. Wow! How did we get here? I know, too long an answer.

Being “born again” or better yet “born from above” is not about joining a new club or a new religion. Its about getting our spiritual guts ripped out and then replaced with a new plumbing system. What does that mean for us? It means our new system works differently than the old one. Its not just a shiny new set of guts that are the same kind as the old ones - they’re a NEW KIND OF GUTS ALTOGETHER! Is that gross enough for you? What!? A 6 chamber heart? What’s that? No Liver!? What do you mean no Liver!? I don’t like Liver anyway - good! Obviously I’m speaking in metaphor here, but do you see what I’m saying? Its all different now - when we’ve stepped into His Life on the other side of Jesus. Its not just thinking different thoughts, its thinking in a whole different way. Its not just eating different foods, its that we process food in an entirely new and different way.

I think until we begin to understand these things, we will stay cramped up where we are - trying to be good and being frustrated because we always fail at it so miserably. Its not about being good! I mean its not about doing good - doing good things - thinking good thoughts. Its about discovering that at the core of our being, by the Grace of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, we have been recreated as good people - God kind of people - and letting that radiate outward through our whole selves, letting it transform us in totality.

Whhheeeew - I just had a kind of e-mail exchange with someone that sparked all that. I wonder sometimes about whether we really know what it means to be a Christian. Not that I have it all figured out. If I think I have a clue though, I’ll at least be confident about what I think I know until I figure out I’m wrong. Stranger things have happened.

re-post > 02-07-2002 > worthiness

2009-04-13T14:24:00.000-04:00

Note: I didn't have titles back then, so my title above is what I'm calling it now - no permalinks either, or comments, so here it is, one of the earliest blogger posts in my archives - featuring, who else, Thomas Merton - classic. ...

"To serve the God of love one must be free, one must face the terrible responsibility of the decision to love in spite of all unworthiness whether in oneself or in one's neighbor... In the true Christian vision of God's love, the idea of worthiness loses its significance. Revelation of the mercy of God makes the whole problem of worthiness something almost laughable: the discovery that worthiness is of no special consequence (since no one could ever, by himself, be strictly worthy to be loved with such a love) is a true liberation of the spirit."
Thomas Merton -New Seeds of Contemplation

I went to a bar last night. I was there till 12:30am, drank 2 beers, listened to a friend's band (a George Harrison tribute). I sat there and observed people, as always, between sets - there was a decent crowd. Of couse I "observed" a few of the female people a little too much, had some unsavory thoughts, and went back to listening to music. I came home with that imbedded smokey bar smell in every fiber of my clothing and hair and skin, to my wife, waiting up for me.

Why do I say all that? Worthiness I guess. Am I unworthy? Probably - oh, and so are you. Is my mind too weird sometimes? Yip, pretty funky. But when I read that quote above, I remember, I realize that it doesn't really matter. Whoooah charlie! Well, it "does" matter I suppose in some sense, but not in the great sense that we all seem to try and make it matter.

God's love for me, for you, for anyone is not predicated upon whether or not we are "worthy" of that love - of course we're not! It is in spite of our unworthiness. The matter of worthiness is, as Merton says, "of no special consequence." Liberation! To be buck wild and nasty? No, but to know that He doesn't love me because I don't go buck wild and nasty - that's not the issue.

And we probably need to get past these views of things which we think "stain" us - Christians I mean - these words like "bar," "beer," etc. This is simply superficial and stupid - we need to grow up, as individuals and as a community.

posting and a little blog history

2009-04-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

I need (well, need is a relative concept here) to ramp this blog back up - to start posting on a regular basis. I used to be an extremely regular blogger, had a lot to say, and a good many people read and interacted with it. I like the interaction, if it's positive. I've always liked the connections made in the blogosphere. I hope that's not over for me. Well, let's see if we can turn the volume back up on the old alancreech blog.

I was thinking a little a week or so ago about scouring the archives and re-posting some interesting things I've written over the years. I noted the history and stats - I started blogging, I think, in either 2000 or 2001. There weren't nearly as many of us back then, of any Christian stripe, or any other stripe for that matter. When I first started, I updated my blog "manually" by using Dreamweaver, publishing it on my own web space. I have the archives of some of that very old stuff linked on my right sidebar there.

I finally started using Blogger in, apparently, 2003. I actually have had several blogs, some on different subjects, but it looks like there are 1,230 posts on this main blog since then. I'm not sure how many from before that - a bunch. I may have lost some of them from '01, which makes me sick a little bit, but I'll try to hunt them down and put them up.

Anyway, just some blog memory lane there. Next post will be some old school. Peace and Happy Easter - it's still Easter you know.

a good day for us > agnus dei

2009-04-10T13:34:00.003-04:00

At noon darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And at three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
"Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?"
which is translated,
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"...
Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two
from top to bottom.
Mark 15:33-38

Agnus Dei - Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the word
grant us Peace.

a bad day for Jesus

2009-04-05T12:11:00.003-04:00

The biggest thing that comes to my mind today is not much different than every year on Palm Sunday - not a good day for Jesus. Are we supposed to think this was an awesome worship party in Jerusalem that day? Palm waving and cheering - and Jesus wasn't happy about it - why? Because they weren't cheering for Him. They were cheering for some other Messiah, and He knew it. He knew they wouldn't be cheering or waving palms much for what He was really there to do and how He was going to accomplish it. No royal robes. No great army. No smiting the Roman oppressors. And the only crown He would wear was not quite the sparkling one in the imaginations of his kin folk.

I think we're often the same today. The Church - I mean the whole spread-out Body of Christ - looks for a Jesus who doesn't exist, at least not exactly in the way we want Him to. I think He's still sad, as much as God can be sad, because we still so seldom really understand Who He Is, who We are. Today, we should take stock, here at the end of Lent - take stock of our vision, how we see, how awake we are to the reality of Who our Savior Is and what He came for. We need to open our eyes after this long darkness and see His Light.

the new man > one

2009-03-30T09:16:00.003-04:00

I've been re-reading The New Man by Thomas Merton lately. You don't see this one on people's lists often for some reason. It's one of my favorites - this and New Seeds of Contemplation, top two. Very good stuff, getting into the deep realities of what our salvation is. I thought I'd share a few quotes with you...

...life is more than the reward for him who correctly guesses a secret and spiritual "answer" to which he smilingly remains committed.

...for man to live, he has to become wholly and entirely alive.

This finding of our true self, this awakening, this coming to life in the luminous darkness of the infinite God, can never be anything but a communion with God by the grace of Jesus Christ. Our victory over death is not our own work, but His.

Contemplation is a mark of a fully mature Christian life. It makes the believer no longer a slave or a servant of a Divine Master, no longer the fearful keeper of a difficult law, no longer even an obedient and submissive son who is still too young to participate in his Father's counsels. Contemplation is that wisdom which makes man the friend of God, a thing which Aristotle thought to be impossible. For how, he said, can a man be God's friend? Friendship implies equality. That is precisely the message of the Gospel: No longer do I call you servants, because the servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. –John 15:15

alan creech design spring sale

2009-03-24T21:08:00.002-04:00

Spring has sprung! I've actually been opening the windows and listening to the birds singing during the days - very nice. That, and I can use the work - Sooooo, I'm puttin' on a Spring Design Sale! Good for you. Good for me. Good for everybody. Right now, I'm keeping this to web design jobs. It seems like a lot of people need sites, whether big or small, or just a blog - and a lot of people these days don't have quite as much spending money as they did, so hopefully, this can work out well for more than just me.

I'm offering a considerable savings from my normal pricing, which is not above the ordinary for a professional designer at all to begin with - approx. 40% off.

Full Site Design = $750 (normally $1200)
Site Template Design = $550 (normally $900)
Blog Template Design = $150 (normally $300)

Check out my site to see a few samples of my work. You can contact me via the e-mail link there. Thanks.