This week's schedule

Sunday
7-9 PM at 1st UMC—study and conversation—get ready for the week
Monday
11 am The God Delusion—MBSC food court,
7 PM meetup—the Faith Club
Tuesday
11 AM Peer Ministry
6:30 PM dinner at Noodle & Co
8:00 PM Inclusive Spiritual Seekers
Wednesay
3-5 PM The Faith Club; MBSC Omaha Room
Saturday
12:30 PM alternative Spring Break departure for Slidell (28 of us!)


Spring Break

Next gathering is March 24

Monday
11 am The God Delusion—MBSC food court,
7 PM meetup—the Faith Club
Tuesday
11 AM Peer Ministry
6:30 PM dinner at Noodle & Co
8:00 PM Inclusive Spiritual Seekers
Wednesay
3-5 PM The Faith Club; MBSC Omaha Room

Weekly Schedule

UMCHE calendar for the week of March 2

Sunday:
5:30 PM Taize worship, First UMC, Mead Chapel
7-9 PM Weekly class preparation & conversation
First United Methodist Church, 7020 Cass St.
Bring schoolwork, readings, a positive attitude
Monday
10:00am:"The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins" on Monday, March 3 MBSC food court.
Everyone is welcome for discussion and lunch
Tuesday
10:00 am Peer Advisory Meeting
6:30 PM UCMHE dinner at Noodles & Co
8:00 PM UCMHE Inclusive Spiritual Searchers
Wednesday
Dr. Fred is at Systems Coaching in Lincoln--all day
Thursday
1PM Planning—New Orleans, Alternative Spring Break
4PM United Methodists for Mission and Justice
Saturday
8AM—Second Saturdays of Service, meetup at Caffeine Dreams
we will work the morning at Habitat for Humanity

Calendar for the week

This week's schedule in campus ministries:

Sunday:
5:00 PM information session, New Orleans Alternative Spring Break
7:00 PM study and prepping for the week; 1st UMC, 7020 Cass

Tuesday:
10:00 AM Peer Advisory Meeting
12:00 noon, Wesleyan Live
6:30 PM dinner at Noodles & Co, just south of 72nd & Dodge
8:00 PM Inclusive Spiritual Seekers, Tower Room, MBSC

Wednesday
Hanging out on campus

Thursday:
8:30 AM presentation on New Orleans Alternative Spring Break
1:00 PM planning meeting, NOASP
7:00 PM community Response to Violence listening Session,
Lewis & Clark Jr. High
Friday:
3:00 PM Drywall practice session,

Saturday
8:15 AM Habitat for Humanity work morning;
meet at caffeine dreams

Sunday
10:00 AM preaching at Waterloo UMC

schedule for the week

Sunday night is study time:
7:00PM at 1st UMC, 70th & Cass
Tuesday
10:00 AM Peer Ministry
12:15 PM Brittany Williams Memorial
Service, MBSC
6:30 supper at Noodles & CO., 72nd, just
south of Dodge
8:00 Inclusive Spiritual Searchers,
MBSC, Tower Room
Thursday:
1:00 PM Planning meeting New Orleans,
SPO
9:00 am worship with us at St. Luke
UMC, 11810 Burke St.
5:00 PM General Meeting, New Orleans
Alternative Spring Break
7:00 PM Study time at 1st UMC,
70th & Cass

This week's schedule

It’s second semester!
5:00 PM Start off with the movie “Crash”
at Trinity UMC, 80th & Q
Sunday night is study time:
7:00PM at 1st UMC, 70th & Cass
Tuesday
2:30 PM Peer Ministry
4:00 Board Meeting, Hoskins
6:30 supper at Noodles & CO., 72nd, just
south of Dodge
8:00 Inclusive Spiritual Seekers, MBSC,
Tower Room
Friday:
7:00 PM Matthew Fox at Lewis & Clark
Middle School
Saturday:
9:00 AM Matthew Fox at L&CMS
7:00 PM Cosmic Mass at Sokol Hall
Sunday
10:00 AM worship with us at
1st Presbyterian Church, Bellevue;
we’ll talk about UCMHE
7:00 PM Study time at 1st UMC,
70th & Cass

meditation on the last day

Today is the last day. For many, the last day was some other day, but I’ve talked with enough students who will finish exams today, that today is really the last day of the semester.

And you are no longer the same.

You’ve changed.

The temptation will be to go home and be the same. You’ll try to be the same, but you will have changed and you’ll feel the difference in yourself and how you relate to others, especially those in your family. The change in yourself will because you have accomplished something, often, something difficult.

For some, the difficult piece has been grades. Applying glue to one’s backside for study always makes the world seem different. For others, it’s been surviving the wiles of an intractable roommate. For still others, life in the social lane has exposed you to people with whom you can relate and who even inspire you. For still others, the shootings of last spring’s Virginia Tech reverberated again at Von Maur and caused a painful stirring that has not yet rested.

Oh, yes, you’ve been through difficult times. As a campus, we’ve experienced everything from the selection and installation of a new Chancellor and the real and proposed exit of some of our longest friends; new buildings going up, other ones rearranged and still others becoming strong ideas. Programs are reformatted and put online, faculty are interested in taking leading roles in the community and going off campus. Transition has become a permanent state of affairs. Living in transition is difficult—it requires principles, thought, preparation and action. This adult like process requires the best and the most of us. It’s difficult. Having gone through difficult times, you have changed.

In all cases, there will be people who wish times, people and behavior remain what they’ve been, or at least, what is perceived to have been, “the way you used to be.” The tension will be palpable as you decide if you are the “same old” or if you have the “one in transition”, making decisions with a behavior in line with your new life principles.

Families and close co-workers are the most adept at desiring your old self. That’s the one with whom they are most comfortable.

This was true for Saul, also called Paul. His conversion story on the road to Damascus is will known. What is often forgotten is the story of Ananias, who was called to offer healing so Saul could regain his sight, after being struck blind (Act 9). This is the struggle of Ananias:

v. 10
“Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias,” He answered. “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

It’s your choice: to acknowledge and be the new person who has gone through difficult times and has new or emerging and powerful principles, or to try to ignore it all and not name it and claim it.

Make a list of those who want you to stay the same (including yourself, maybe?) and those who want the new and stronger you. Let me know how it goes.

See you second semester!

--f

a meditatioin on taking down the Von Maur Memorial

We helped lay to rest the “shooting memorial at Von Maur. There were probably forty or so volunteers all together, and five hundred onlookers who came for a variety of reasons.

First, there was a sense that it was time for some closure. One of the folks spoke about needing to move on to normalcy. I suspect he meant normalcy being able to move on and not be tied to this event like it’s an albatross, keeping us from functioning. Of course, this would be a life of victimization. How poor would this earth be if that’s what we did! We are not victims, we are confident in God’s love. That’s normalcy: having confidence with love, all the while being aware of the albatrosses in our world. We blessed the place with our hands. Then someone in the crowd started singing “Silent Night.” We all chimed in. There was a four year old girl in the front row with a blanket over her head who sang, and a very experienced gentleman to her right to joined her. It was a song we all knew and a song for the season, and a song of hope because it joined us to That Which Is Beyond Us.

Second, there was a sense that it was time to move on. This resonated well. It is time to note we are in transition toward another time and place in our hearts. It is not healthy, I think, to easily say “good bye” and “good luck” like it never happened. Forgetfulness is a sorry state of affairs. So we must continue to be in touch with that sense of loss and pain, yet reach out to a new future, which we will create with God’s help, and which is the glory of God. At once, we are responsible and hopeful. God Is With Us.

Third, there was great probability that it is good to be together at a time like this. We all could have stayed home and been in out of the cold of the night. Instead, we showed up and did what we could, shared ourselves with one another, called on the God Who Is Larger Than Us prepared ourselves for renewal. Ann Lamott put it this way: “…it’s good to be out where others can see you, so you can’t be your ghastly spoiled self. It forces you to act slightly more elegantly, and this improves your thoughts, and thereby the world.”

A man on crutches in the front row of mourners called out to me as I was readying a teddybear for the bin. “Hold that one up, please. Janet put that there…. Yes, that’s it, it has a red scarf.” “Yes,” I responded, “it has red stripes on the scarf.” “It sure does” (he took a picture). “Thank you, sir,” he finished. “You’re very welcome.” He moved on.

So will we. I am confident we will move on.



P.S. As it turns out, being credentialed means showing up, going to the on in charge, stating who you are and why you’re there. Then you can introduce your friends, and they’re credentialed, too. Sort of like osmosis, we all got credentialed. Of course, this is Omaha, but I’ll be this system works elsewhere, too.

meditation on getting a pass and making a difference

“And the winner of the contest gets a pass to sit on the bench during the Creighton Basketball game*.”

We often wonder what’s said and done during sport events in the bench areas, or along the sidelines during football games. What is he saying to his players when he nods his head and moves his hands and arms just so? What is the coach saying to the officials? It would be fun to find out. The winner was sure happy.

And I’m sure of one thing—the pass loops around the neck of the winner and stays there. It’s his credentials that he’s official. Security and the rest of the team can look at that pass and will know he can be where he is.

In order to be helpful at the Von Maur disassembling of the door decorations, we’ll need credentialing, too. Von Maur has requested the people who photograph, remove, and store these memorial materials be credentialed. Not just anybody can do it. And that make sense. We all know: “the larger the crowd, the more organized the event has to be. Otherwise chaos can ensue.” We will need to be credentialed. It doesn’t mean we need lots of training. It means we need to be trustable and someone with authority has to vouch for that. (I’ve been assured that anyone who is with me or UCMHE can get credentialed through me.)

That’s really the bottom line—the people involved tonight need to be trustable, because we’re dealing with an emotionally charged memorial, it is being preserved, not trashed. People need to understand how to follow directions. The disciples of Jesus were trustable. First, they were trustable because they were with him on his travels. They were identifiable. Second, they acted (generally!) like they belonged where they were. They knew their responsibilities. Over the three or so years they had together, they learned who was responsible for what.

Tonight, credentialed, trustable people will be handling the life of a memorial. It will be done with “truth and grace.” If you have tender hands and hearts, you can help. You can get credentialed. You can get a pass and make a difference by supporting the emotional and spiritual process of transition. If you can’t be with us, you can make a difference where you are, too, by praying for the victims, the shooter and the city at 8:00 PM. tonight.

Mark 14:12
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, :?Where do you want us to go and make the preparation for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to the, “Go into the city… .”







*(My apologies to UNO fans—it’s just that I heard this on the radio and I went with it—the same idea would work at UNO hockey games, volleyball games, soccer games, you name it).

a meditation on the opening of Von Maur, Wednesday, 8PM

The library is chock full of folks cranking out material on the work station computers. Yesterday, intense faces were focused screenward in dramatic focused fashion. In the side rooms, groups were putting finishing touches (we hope!) on projects to submit. The usual banter was at a low ebb. Fewer phones were going on off. The conversation seemed to hush. We’re talking serious work, here, folks. Working on to finish the semester!

And what about next week? Not many were openly thinking about that, but we know the end is coming and next week will be here. One student articulated the anxiety by noting, “I can’t make plans for Christmas break! I’ve got to finish this paper and exam.”

Next week will come, and if my suspicions hold true, Santa will show up on schedule, someone will make Christmas dinner, and life will go on. The healing process of the semester’s whirlwind end will begin to take shape. Old communities will shift, and new ones will form. Some of our lab partners and folks we got to know because of schedule will move on for the same reason—schedule.

Community building, disengagement, and rebuilding is part of the faithful life. While community can take many forms, it is always present. There are no complete loners in the authentic Christian religious world.

Wednesday night at 8:00 PM at Von Maur’s entrances, there will be another opportunity to shift from one community and build another. The wider community of Omaha is invited to join the mayor and the Nebraska Historical Society, to carefully take down the snowflakes and remembrances in such a way so that they can be preserved.

This is a healthy activity for individuals , families and groups. It builds the larger community, and recognizes the connection to the one broken by a shooter. We take stock in ourselves and our beliefs, our hopes and our dreams. This is the stuff of humanity. It will be a good time to be together.

Let’s plan to be there. If there’s energy, time and interest, we’ll hit the food court for dessert after.


Luke 5:8 and following—on creating new community

But when Simon Peter saw it,(the big fish catch and near sinking of the boat) he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

A similar event takes place in 5:27:

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up, left everything, and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them.

a meditation on carrying hot water

Participating yields connection.

Yesterday, I helped at a baptism. At the church, the baptismal font was a large cylinder . At a cut out, the cylinder spilled into a lower tank area on floor level. The water was very cool. Someone wisely decided to that the water was too cold for an immersion baptism.

So the father of the baby and the priest took buckets of the cold water out. Six to be precise. Then they started bringing buckets of hot water back in. I volunteered to help. “Sure, you can do that.” So I went to the hot water spigot with my bucket and brought in three more buckets of hot water. That combined with the cold and the baptism water was now warm. Perfect. The immersion went off swimmingly, so to speak.

Afterward, I reflected on the experience and realized I felt connected to the ceremony. Probably, I suppose, because I had some small part in it. For me to be connected, I need to participate. Is it the same for you?

Perhaps you’ve felt connected through participation, too. Perhaps on the athletic field or in a classroom setting, either through asking questions on in a study group, perhaps even in taking notes and reviewing them. In that way, we become part of what’s going on, and we have a little more connection to it.

I stopped at Oak View Mall and noted outside the doors on the are some tables with papers on them. People can write messages of condolence or of hope. Many were making snowflakes with no comment at all. They just wanted to make something that said, “Hey, I was here and I’m here for you.” Windows and doorways are plastered with this participation.

Our lives are full of opportunities for participation, and our lives are all the more full for having done so. When you participate, you make a difference. Everyone can do this.

Luke 8:1
Soon afterwards he went o through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women….”

“Thank you” for taking classes, “thank you” for learning, and “thank you” for being part of the emerging UNO community.

a meditation on test prep helps

So now comes the slow dance into finals week. This weekend will pit your need to study and your desire to have fun. The wait for the culmination of a semester’s work is upon you. Next week, you will only be able to refresh, remind and keep the big picture. It’s not a great idea to give an calculus answer to a creative writing question.

Anxiety is rampant as people put their nose to the books and class notes. People are asking questions: “Who has the best notes in class?” “What’s her name?” “Where’s a study group?” “Does anyone have copies of old tests?” “What does this professor really want out of me?”

These are all life skills, folks: learning, working with others, doing projects well and knowing the reason for the project in the first place are all part of what’s needed. That body work all builds confidence.

“Why are you studying?” Try to put that into a sentence. It will help with the studying itself. Also, when you take a test, make sure your essays have a thesis statement. That one was always a problem! Hot oatmeal is good for studying, too.

For those of you with more time and who need to stare out the window, here are a couple reverie starters.

Imaginings:

• The hotel in Dubai where you meet a young woman who is part of the “Turquoise Mountain” project—regenerating the business section of Kabul, Afghanistan. Would you like to join that?

• Here’s a quote: “He who has not despaired has no need to live.”—Goethe

What might that mean? And why is the German history so full of quotable quotes?

• Answer this question: Would I like to live someplace special for 3 months? What would that be like?

• So this guy Jesus comes up to me at Panera’s and says, “Come. Follow me.” Does that interest you? Would you accept the invitation? Where would that invitation take you? Who would you invite to go with you?

You are grand. You are able. You are focused. You are God’s creation.

a meditation on camels and messes

Watch out for the camels and messes

Driving Dodge street east last night I was rubber necking Westside Church (Southern Baptist). There in the parking lot were two camels. They looked to be five or six feel tall at the hump. I laughed when I thought of them inside the church building because I knew someone was excited about the beauty of the pageant and its meaning. Reality dictates, however, there were others who worried about “who’s going to clean up this mess? Camels make messes, you know. They spit, they’ve got hooves, they pass gas and, well you know what else they can do. They’re animals. And who let them in on this carpet anyway?”

The answer in life is this: some messes are worth it!

Pets are part of a lot of peoples’ lives. Most have cats and dogs. There is a rage now to have pet rats. On Tuesday night at our ministry’s cookie decorating event, I met a few. These rats, evidently, have personalities and attitudes. To work with her inner rat, this rat owner has constructed a multi-level rat condo with cardboard boxes and duct tape. The luxury penthouse is complete with terrace, a deck, and viewing tower. Presumably, there is a master bath as well. Even with a castle, though, rats make a mess. But it’s worth it.

Children are messy, too. This morning’s paper displayed a photo of a baby in a Santa’s outfit. Cute and adorable? Absolutely! Do babies make a mess? Of course. But it’s worth it.

Christmas is messy. Every year we hear about Magi and Shepherds, and Angels and Mary and Joseph. A terrific visual description of the retelling of that story is in the movie, “Simon Birch.” Simon, a birth challenged small person always ends up being the baby. One year, though, he’s going through a pre teen challenge, and the beautiful Mary pays the price, as does the free range angel who comes down on stage losing lunch from the heavens. The chain smoking, delusional Sunday School director doesn’t get a free pass either. Quite a sight. Not pretty, except for being pretty funny. Lots of messes to clean up here—both on stage and off. But it’s worth it.

Life has its messes. The challenge is not so much in eliminating them, but acknowledging them, and cleaning them up.

Last night’s TV broadcast a show of a wealthy family that is all about itself and how entitled behavior runs amok. One character, who played the part of a college age loafer with no direction, brings a race horse and jockey into his parents’ formal dinner party. It reminded me of Peter Sellers’ “The Party” or Robin Williams’ “Mrs. Doubtfire.” The hilarity, however, is cut with the sharp knife of impropriety, inattention, narcissism, and life without purpose. The cutting left a mess. But was it worth it?

The message of Jesus’ love invites us to use our passions for the love God. Those passions will leave messes—changes of schedule, equipment, budgets, relationships and more. But those are the messes worth cleaning up!

Mark 10:17-30

“As he was going out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him: Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “you lack one thin; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”

Meditation on if

Meditation on “if”

One of the women said, “If the weather hadn’t caused UNO to be called off, we’d have had 150 people here.” But the weather did cause the school to be closed until noon, the time at which we were scheduled. Moreover, it’s dead week and students are focused on finals and papers and a change in their schedule. A change in schedule makes many of us forget what we’re doing. Signs were made, the podium and loudspeaker was up. It was on the schedule. Those who were there were ready. So we went ahead as soon as we could.

“If” is a big word.

If the weather had been better…

If it wasn’t dead week…

If people didn’t have to work…

But the facts are what they are. As they say, “It is what it is.” Just as we can’t take back last Wednesday (one week ago today), and the gruesomeness of the slayings, we can’t take back who we are and exchange it for someone else: a different size, different focus, different body type, different intelligence, a different (you fill in the blank here) ….)

No we can’t do that. So there we were with our candles and our prayers with those who were there. We read, we prayed, we reflected and we remembered. And though we weren’t 150, we made a difference:

We made a difference to those who walked by, saw the signs and almost joined us.

We made a difference in the atmosphere of campus, because people knew we were there in prayer.

Afterward, we made a difference in the offices where we work and with the people we meet.

We made a difference in the life of the community on campus and in Omaha and in the world.

Why? Because something holy happens when people gather to pray and to witness to God who is among us, whether in joy or tragedy. Gathering overcomes “if”s.

Matthew 18:20 (in the midst of conflict)
“For wherever two or three are gathered, there I am there among them.”

Meditation on the time in between

Meditation and the time in between

Tomorrow we will have a brief service of remembrance for all those killed in the
Von Maur shooting. We are taking the lead in cooperation with other campus
ministries, including Catholic Campus Ministries, who are interested in this
time of prayer, reflection, community and hope. The service is at MBSC in the
fireplace lounge at noon. We invite you to join us.

We are in an in between time. The deaths have been catalogued and the funeral
services planned. Some will be completed today or very soon. We are in a time in
between death and final resting.

We are in an in between time as well because even though a person is buried,
their memory does not end. Families will cherish time spent together. Families
will remember the joy of life in years gone by. We are in between because of
memory.

We are also in an in between time because the events of last week are rippling
across our country, and perhaps our world. Yesterday, four people were gunned
down by shooters at a mega church in Colorado Springs, and a missionary training
center outside Denver, CO; a bomb threat was sent to a Von Maur store in
Minneapolis, MN. But even in these events, there is hope. We do not quit on
life.

Partly, I suppose, we do not quit on life because of the resilient character of
human nature. We continue to hope in and build for the future. Also, we do not
quit on life and hope because we are like saints in the world, looking into the
eyes of those around us and “seeing Jesus.” We are profoundly the people of
compassion and love. I see this compassion in the responders. It is visible in
the compassion of those walking past the makeshift memorial, and hope through
compassion is visible as persons make donations to the families involved to ease
the financial crunch, which is inevitable.

I encourage you to view the compassion welling up in our community and to not
give in to the easy cynical and hopelessness deaths bring, whether in Omaha and
elsewhere. We are a people hope; we do not easily give up. We are God’s people.



From Psalm 139:vss 7-12

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there,
If I take the wings of the morning
And settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall lead me,
And your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “surely the darkness shall cover me,
And the light around me become night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to you
The night is as bright as the day,
For darkness is as light to you.

meditation on the violence at the Westroads, #2

There will be a brief service of prayer and remembrance of the Von Maur deaths.
Fireplace Lounge, Tuesday at noon.
All are welcome.


Also: Habitat for Humanity Saturday morning—meet at Caffeine Dreams at 8:00 am.



Meditation:

Anybody could tell things were different on campus yesterday, at least for awhile. When I walked into the food court, smatterings of conversations were about the killings at the Westroads. One woman was checking for text messages and commented, “They are supposed to release the names (of the victims) at 9:30 am.” Another student read the morning World Herald in one hand and held his calculus notes in the other. Others huddled over laptops in low volume conversations.

Over the sound system, Mav radio played Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven.” Yes, the atmosphere was considerably different.

Students who talked with me shared a variety of emotions: a sense of disruption, unfairness, disbelief, violation. Others were non-phased and working at being rational—“This kind of event has happened in other cities, why not Omaha?” And there was a grappling with a fear that an event like this might happen again. Others remained intent on their homework, seemingly oblivious to everything but exam preparations.

Perhaps you have experienced some of these emotions and thoughts. Or maybe other sensations have occurred to you and your friends. You may have also experienced a numbness, and no feelings are found at all; or there may be confusion about how people could be having so many emotions and that they are running so deep.

Personally, one word I’ve found to describe my own feelings is “unsettled.” Life as Im used to has been interrupted and continuity has flagged. I’ve been reminded of life’s dangerous side. I notice an anxiousness to want the news coverage and the effects of this event to go away and leave me alone, so I can get on with life--without difficulty or interruption. I feel a chill inside, and it’s not from the sub freezing weather.

“Wherever two or three are gathered, there I am also.” Matthew 18.20 is in a section of the book where Jesus is giving instruction on how to work through conflict in a group. In the end, healthy faith lives include getting together, in easy times and uncomfortable ones. Therefore, in response to all our perspectives and emotions, it seems appropriate to follow scripture and get together.

We’ve reserved the fireplace lounge for Tuesday at noon. We will light candles, remember the event and its victims, and pray for the families, ourselves, our city. We invite everyone to join us. All are welcome. God will be there among us.

As always, you can feel free to contact me by phone or email.

--f

meditation on the violence at the Westroads

The city we live in became a more difficult place to understand yesterday. A man armed with a rifle killed eight of his fellow humans in what appears to be a random act of rage against the world. Words to describe this event are difficult to come by. Our pain and fear is real.

However, God is present among us today, just as I believe God was present at the Westroads Mall yesterday afternoon. God is always present. God is not a being “out there” causing random acts of inter-human destruction. This event was not God’s will or God's plan. The victims involved did not deserve this.

God is the loving presence between people when they gather. so it will be good to set some time aside today to listen to each other—students, friends, co workers, colleagues, and family. We are all seeking some kind of way to make sense of this violence, to pray, to wonder.


You can look for me at MBSC fireplace lounge and the food court this morning if you’d like to have some conversation or a time of reflection or prayer. You can always feel free to email or call as well.


May God be real in your lives today and always. Amen.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me,
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
you anoint my head with oil
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

meditation on simple things

This generation is pragmatic: the college life is mostly about getting a job. Time after time, the answer to the question, “Why are you here?” the answer is “to become qualified for a _____ (a job).

Those in IT want to connect the world; those in education want to teach the world; meteorologists want to predict the weather for a living. The list goes on and on.

Wouldn’t it be fine if all of us would become qualified for the job of being faithful? Would we be changed if we did that? How about taking on the tenets of our faith and put them into play for the world?

In the movie, “Ghandi”, the lead character said something like this in commenting to a Christian missionary who come to Southern Africa to be with Ghandi in his struggle for human rights: “I love your Christianity. There is so much to it, especially in the simple phrases: Love your enemies, turn the other cheek. If we could all turn the other cheek, we would take the blows of the police again and again. We will fight them with our unwillingness to give them blows in return. We will break them by taking the blows. The blows they give us will hurt them. They can arrest us and put us in jail if they wish, but they will not have our conscience. We will not bow.”

That’s the kind of comment that makes faith understandable as a very practical matter. Just as students are learning how to put theory into practice, so too should we all be putting the theory of faith into practice. Putting the simple tenets of love into play is the job for which faithful people train. We must become activists in our faith and put it into play in the world. That kind of pragmatism means faith is a lifestyle, not just something to be understood.

Bill Coffin put it succinctly: “…a broken pride does not make for passivity as I had thought. “The world owes me a living”--that’s passive. “I owe the world and God a life”—that’s active.

I encourage us all to take something from ourfaith and put it into play today. We owe the world—and God—a life.

Meditation on planning

Not to put too fine a point on it, but sometimes our plans don’t work out the way we want them to. It’s not that things don’t work out well, it’s just that they don’t work out as we want them to.

For example, to increase our visibility as a ministry on campus, we decided to keep putting up a portable labyrinth in the fireplace lounge. Mondays and Tuesdays were selected as appropriate because students have differing schedules. Yesterday, after securing a portable labyrinth that fits the fireplace lounge, it was put down on the floor by late morning, prior to the lunch rush. Directional signs went up. Paraphernalia about labyrinths and UCMHE were all around. Invitations were issued. Hopes were up for a good number of walkers. Nope.

Fewer walked this time than on any other day I can remember. One was an international student struggling mightily with pressure for an outstanding grade to keep a scholarship. This research paper must yield an A. This person wanted to walk and wanted me to lead, and went the exact pace I did. It turns out this person was missing family members, was feeling lonely, isolated, fragmented and useless, and quipped, “I am so afraid (of failing) and I am so alone (no family).” This student had already been to see the writing lab people several times. I offered words of encouragement and prayer.

One walker came as a skeptic, so he walked it backwards with a flair and a smile.

Another student came accompanied by fear of physical illness. “Every year before finals I get something: an injury, a cold, a sinus problem, and now this. And my grandmother died this fall. That’s thrown me for a loop. I’ve got no grandparents left on either side.” More prayer, more encouragement, more practical conversation. This person walked.

Another student brought a friend, and they walked and talked about the experience. This, by the way, is the model that was supposed to go on all day!

Except for me, that was it for walkers that I saw.

However, holy things did happen. I had conversations with students almost non-stop from 11 am to 4 pm. Love lives, student organizations, computers and internet installations, big screen TV evaluations, finals, papers, weekend trips, plans, workweek, more papers, more exams, more, car expenses, calls from jail, work schedule, tattoos, money drain, “confidence in the face of the end of the semester though there’s lots to do and staying up all night isn’t good because my children need someone to get them up and get them to school.” Conversations were held by students sitting around , reading the material about labyrinths and our ministry. Some put the information down. Others put it in their pockets. Hundreds walked by and looked, wondering what this thing was. Others walked by knowingly and smiled. Most walked by in tunnel vision combined with hunger. I learned to sign the words “good” and “bad”.

As it turned out, this ministry of presence took place with the labyrinth being a very large piece of art as a backdrop.

The fact that more people didn’t walk became secondary. The primary point was God’s availability in the here and now. We all figured the labyrinth would work as planned. It didn’t. It worked in a completely new way. It’s not that things don’t work out well, it’s just that they don’t work out expected.

That’s a biblical concept. It happened to God’s followers.

I Kings 19:4-8
Elijah went a day's journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death saying: "This is enough, O Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my father." He lay down and fell asleep under a broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water... ... He got up, ate, and drank: then strengthened by that food, he walked forty day and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

It’s a good thing to plan and work the plan. It’s also a good thing to know God is with us anyhow!

meditation a poetry slam; and schedule

This week at UNO:
Monday: Peer ministry meeting, Monday 2:30
Tuesday: Beth Katz at 1PM, Dinner at Panera's at 6:30 PM, ISS at MBSC Tower Room, 8:00PM; sometime today the Difficult Dialogues Team meets to decide on our proposal for Spring Semester: the Faith Club gatherings for women.
Thursday: Bell Ringing for Salvation Army; 4PM UMMJ Board Meeting
Saturday: Habitat for Humanity; meet at Caffeine Dreams at 8:30 am.


Meditation on a poetry slam


Poetry Slams share lots of energy, and they are very personal. I did not know this.

On Saturday night I went to my first poetry slam and became a judge at Midland College in Fremont, NE. The last time I was a judge it had to do with bodies doing flips off a diving board into a pool. One key there is to see how much splash the diver made. The less splash, the better the dive. Poetry slams are the reverse—the bigger the splash, the higher the score.

The poets were young, energetic. Well, some were more frenetic than energetic. As the poets got close to the microphone to begin, they entered a trance. Some closed their eyes for a moment to get them close to their emotional outpouring. Others grabbed the mike stand like it was the last friend they had. Taught fingers grabbed the skinny black tube and it looked like they were choking it. There was no chance of letting it go.

The topics were highly charged and personal. There seemed to be no discernable quiet distance between the poet and the situation being analyzed. The poet quickly jammed the accelerator and went from zero to sixty with a high pitched frenzy. I liked it, frankly. Energy was one thing we could count on. I gave higher scores to topics and presentations that made me more uncomfortable and were more difficult to access: “the more uncomfortable I am, the more in touch the poet is” was my motto.

After a while, though, the shock value wore off. It seemed like all the poets had been on drugs, in jail, were HIV positive, or were involved in a torrid and one sided, self seeking love affair. It was all very potent, and it was all very transitory.

The poets became the dispensers of pain and wisdom, and it occurs to me these descriptions of pieces of life were hung up in front of us to evaluate and appreciate. The poems were offerings of instant glimpses of depth. This comraderie of expression gave us mutual appreciation of the human condition. While the words did not offer absolution, they did offer some understanding.

This sharing of life’s depthy joys and depressions was a magnet of hope. Joining with others and being provided an avenue of access to a slice of life was wonderful. And we did not feel we were better for not having suffered with the poets. We felt priviledged for being allowed in.

It was a reminder that Jesus takes anybody, no matter their life experience:

Luke 6:37

He also told them a parable. “Can a blind person guide a bind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor. ‘Friend let me take out the speck in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.


Rev. Dr. Fred Richart
UCMHE at UNO
402-659-5795
www.unocampusministry.blogspot.com

meditation on Pre-Christmas lah dee dah

Pre Christmas la dee dah

The Church year calls it Advent and it starts on Sunday. You might know it better as “all the stuff that happens before Christmas”& “the process of gift selection and wrapping.” The two might or might not have a lot to do with each other. We surely do live together, though.

The whole idea of Advent is how to look at the new creation God is bringing. The idea of gift selection and wrapping has to do with finding the right gifts for others in a way that celebrates the day after Thanksgiving madness at the malls, Black Monday, free shipping and in general, consumption. Many folks just love it.

Our choices this year (yes, we have choices!) have to do with our intentions and our budgets, and whether we discover any sense of holiness in their projection onto day to day living.

Where I live, many people put up exterior Christmas lights to commemorate their values. They are indicating they believe in Christmas. There are more Santa Clauses than Madonnas and child where I live, but still, these are lights to the world. This is the only time of year lights go up. For example, have you ever seen Easter lights on peoples’ lawns? I don’t recall seeing chasing lights on a cross at Easter. Nor have have I seen front lawns aflame at Pentecost! And certainly not for four weeks ahead of the big day. Fire crackers on the 4th of July is the only thing similar, and that event is over in an hour. (Ironic too, I think, that our national “light to the world” is a series of explosions!)

Advent, the church season prior to Christmas, calls upon followers of Christ to look forward to a renewed time, and we will know it’s a new time because everything will seem different—“lions will lie down with lambs” and “swords will be beaten into plowshares”
(read “personal and political enemies will get along”). You’ll note in the history of our planet, we’re without much documentation that this has occurred. We’re still looking forward to it’s culmination, though we did have the birth of a savior. That got things going.

Of course, there are people like my neighbor who don’t seem to be hopeful. He’s just getting through this time of life. I got this idea from a recent encounter.

I was struggling with a getting a few lights up in the shrubs outside my home. He pulled in his driveway from work and jumped out with the words, “I don’t do Christmas!” I responded, “Yeah, I haven’t seen you put up any indicators that you do.” “Well, my family gets together all year, especially in the summer, so I’m low key about now. The kids will get together at my “former’s” house, and then they’ll come over to my house (without his “former” I suppose) and we’ll do some gifts. That’s about it.”

I was amused and perplexed by this conversation. Here I was, putting up indicators of filled and unfulfilled hope, and there he was, thinking there’s nothing to this time of year, except “doing some gifts.” That dichotomy says it all, and it lifts up the pre-Christmas la dee day question:

What is hope or is there none? And if there is hope, where do we find it? How will we share it?

Personally, I’m looking forward to some pre-Christmas sharing with this neighbor. Maybe he’s really Santa, and I just missed it ‘cuz I was too busy putting up lights to notice. What do you think?

--f