Joel in the City

Renovare

Tonight is the second session of our Renovare Spiritual Formation small group.  I'm meeting with 5 other guys to learn together and challenge each other in our spiritual journey-ing.  This particular Renovare book looks at six streams of Christian tradition and at six areas in Jesus' life that we can emulate.  More than reading pages and pages on the spiritual disciplines, we are allowed an introduction to the disciplines followed by an opportunity to put them into practice.  We are a diverse group with different gifts to offer.  After several years of "Lone Ranger" Christianity (very little regular accountability), I am so appreciating this chance to be vulnerable and honest with other like-minded men.

My neighbor, Jason, and I are also involved in a discipline of sorts.  We are starting to train for a mini-marathon (the Indy Mini) to be run in May.  This physical discipline will no doubt aid in getting my spiritual legs in shape as well.

Thoughts from the Office

I have a break between patients so will take a moment to type some of the stuff going through my head lately...

Reading Wendell Berry's The Unsettling of America, a 1970's treatise on the state of agriculture and the state of America at that time.  It reads as a prophetic look at today's struggles.  We seem to still be enamored with machines and what human ingenuity can come up with, all the time ignoring the fact that we have shown ourselves woefully inept as a race to manage our own inventions and sources of energy.  The oil crisis, big business, the demise of the family farm, etc. all get attention in this book.

We are in the process of buying a house in Janette's hometown.  There are pluses and minuses but overall we are looking forward to having a place that our kids can call "home" and start to put down roots.  It has been very easy living with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson but the kids will appreciate visiting them more if they don't live there all the time.  We are also glad to be moving into a neighborhood where the kids can play in the local park, we can walk to the library or church and Janette can watch the girls walk across the backyard to school every morning.

Work has been very busy so far.  A lot of patients but decent hours.  I'm remembering a lot of things that had gotten really fuzzy with years of inactivity.

Last weekend, we traveled to Indianapolis to attend a wedding reception and speak in a couple of our supporting churches.  Indy has such a nice downtown area- the new library is amazing- and we remembered why we liked our time there so much.  It was good to see old friends and share a little of what took place in Mexico City the last four years.  Some of Hurricane Ike's aftermath caught us on the way home which made for some tense driving but we made it safe and sound and were glad to collapse into our own beds.

Thinking about how we might be able to get some of our stuff out of Mexico City to our house in Spring Arbor.  We may have to fly down, drive the stuff up to the border and store it in Texas for a few weeks until we can drive it up to Michigan.  The whole border crossing with a van load of stuff is a big unknown.

More to come later...

3 Days, 3 Dead

This morning, the BBC reported that another top Mexican policeman was killed by assassins.  The long-standing drug war in Mexico seems to have escalated this year with already some 1100 dead.  Two of the top Mexico City policemen were killed in the last two days as well as they prepared to leave their homes.

As we live and work and worship in this city, we don't always remember that it is a city of great promise but also of great challenge.  People are living day-to-day, trying to make ends meet.  There are so many stressors: the number of people, the traffic, the polluted air, the financial realities, the crime.  We are thankful that God has brought us to this place and He will be glorified in this place as his followers are faithful to shine his light into the darkness.

Another Immigration Angle

Here is another look at the Mexican Immigration issue.  NAFTA is generally looked at by blue collar workers in the U.S. as being to blame for the disappearance of U.S. industry jobs but in this article, another possible consequence is expressed.

Luther Burger: A heart attack waiting to happen

In an effort to provide my friends with the best in American cuisine, I present for your review the Luther Burger.  Yes, those are glazed donuts instead of the boring bun.

Aaron Roche

My friend Rick recommended this Indie musician.  You can listen to a few of his songs HERE.  He reminds me of one of my other favorites, Steve Bell.  If you still haven't listened to Steve Bell, you need to...now.

What are you listening to these days?

New Monasticism

My friend Kevin sent me this link that discusses a new movement among evangelicals- some are calling it the New Monasticism.  My recent reading (see previous post) has opened my eyes a bit to some of the older traditions in the church.  I'm glad that I haven't grown up with a fear of the Roman Catholic church and am able to accept some of those traditions into my own devotional life.  For an overview of some of the common themes in New Monasticism, you can go HERE.

We aren't planning to start a new "movement" here in Mexico City or in Michigan when we get home but wouldn't it be great to have a greater connection to the worldwide church and to each other by incorporating some of these traditions?  What do you think?

Recent Reading

My reading lately has been dealing with spiritual disciplines.  First, was a book my mom gave us for Christmas called The Sacred Way by Tony Jones.  It is a good intro to some ancient spiritual disciplines that have not been a part of the Protestant tradition for a long time.  I learned a lot about some of the practices that are a regular part of the discipline of many Christians in the world- like centering prayer, lectio divina, and labyrinths.  This is not an exhaustive (or exhausting) read on these traditions but is a good primer and may spur you on to further investigation.

The second book is The God of Intimacy and Action by Tony Campolo and Mary Darling.  This book attempts to connect several ancient spiritual disciplines with the more "modern" focuses of evangelism and justice.  The authors contend that only by cultivating a mystical Christianity can we have the Spirit's power to work for justice and share with others the Good News.  It is a little harder to get into but there are some real gems if you stick with it.

What are you reading these days?

Blast from the Past

I recently was pointed to a website that allows you to play many of the classic Nintendo arcade games from the 80's and 90's.  www.virtualnes.com is free and was a fun walk down memory lane for me.  We had a Colecovision as kids and I fondly remember the Rocky game where Rocky and Clubber Lang (Mr. T) fought it out.  Anyway...enjoy it for what it's worth but don't waste too much time on it.

Turning Cheeks and Keeping Mouths Shut

A flat denial, a kiss on the cheek
How could your response be so mild and meek?

Thorns on your brow, spit in your face
What would I have done in your place?

A lamb to the slaughter, silent your protest
In love and humility, you gave us your best.

Your life and your love, who could afford?
And I am healed by your blood which out poured.

That same love-power which the Father gave then
To suffer, forgive, and redeem sinful men
Is still available- though not without pain
For I must yield and choose to remain
Remain in the eye of the storm swirling 'round
Where You are the only shelter to be found.

And there I will stay 'til your Spirit says "Arise"
For your power to restore reaches the skies.