Gathering Reflections: Part 1 "Shimmer"

There are moments and events that are so harmonious, to deny the divine orchestration of God is impossible. Our Worship Mentor Gathering at Villa Rockledge was one of those times. Ask anyone of the 40 or so guests of the Pacific Edge Hotel during our time together and they’ll all share similar accounts:

Amazing…wonderful…community…retreat…surrender…self…Spirit…

Let me take a second to say that I truly am grateful to be invited and allowed to be a part of the Gathering. So many sages and servants that have and continue to shape the worship landscape – to be a part of this community is an honor.

We were all equally honored to spend time with Ian Morgan Cron, an author, artist, priest, musician, and now we can all say friend. Ian is gifted with a great amount of insight. He is also a gifted story teller. And while he would probably deny it, he has been given the ability to articulate shades of the Mystery that very few have seen. It is apparent that God preordained Ian’s temperament, talents, torments, and triumphs to amplify a testimony of grace and wonder. (Pick up his new book “Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and ME: A memoir…of sorts” to read about how he got from there to here.) What Ian shared with us, and what we all shared together, was a time of ministry, mystery, and majesty.

So much could be said about the few days in Laguna Beach. But I will try to focus in, as much as my ADHD will let me, on a few. (Everyone with ADHD should have blogs. If they are disciplined enough to proof-read…. Sorry tangent) So in the next few posts I’m going to attempt to work through some of the moments that continue to, for lack of a better word, haunt me.

SHIMMER
There are phrases, nuggets, moments during our time together when something “shimmered” above the rest of the conversation, as Ian would put it. I’m certain many of us shared similar “shimmer” moments, where Truth or Mystery resonated a bit louder in our souls. It is a phrase or concept, an “aha” that is worth writing down, worth revisiting. Beyond that, it is worth pondering. Not necessarily to figure out and ingest, but just to let it rest, or to let us rest in it. If something “shimmered” it meant that it was worth slowing your pulse so you could experience the thought from every angle, like the 360° camera shots on the MATRIX. It is the seconds between when a symphony ends before the ovation begins, or the black screen between the closing scene and rolling credits of a film. It is weightlessness and gravitas, like when a rock lands on the ocean floor and impact sends sand and debris floating around…Wait for all of that to settle and that sort of describes the sensation.

I’m thinking that God wants us to experience these “shimmers” all the time. But our pace and priorities of life disallow it. When have you had the “shimmer” moments? I’m guessing it was during a retreat, a time of solitude, a vacation in the wonder of creation, or just a short moment of absolute clarity. But they are few and far between, at least for me. 

My first “Shimmer” was the fact that I don’t allow God to “shimmer” enough. Either my eyes aren’t open, or my mind is to closed, or my pulse is to quick. God wants my life to be rich, but right now I can hardly afford to pay attention. How about you? The truth is it only occurs at places like the Gathering, or a long walk in the woods (if I had a beach to stroll on...).  Let's face it, our days - our hours are packed to the max.  I'm sure this isn't what Jesus had in mind in John 10:10.  But the reality of life allows for few breaks.  Unless we plan for them. If we don't choose to stop, we won't.

So this will be a good place to stop for now. Next I’ll begin to actually unpack some of the content of the time on the beach. But for the next 4 minutes or so, stop and listen. Enjoy the rhythm of the waves, the pulse of the ocean, the beauty of the beach, the shimmering sunlight...I think you get the idea. Rest in wonder.

Mountain Music Part 2: Wander & Wonder

So it's been a few weeks.  I meant to get to this within a week of the first post.  But life is crazy!  I know we're all waiting for the next thing to be done so we can get a break.  But then that new next thing comes up, right?!?  Anyway, let's get on with it.

So in watching the PBS Series on National Parks it occured to me that we don't take time to wander and wonder any more.  At least not outside (more on this below).  The fact that there are camping campaigns like goRVing.com tells you that it's not in the forefront of the American Mind to "rough it" for a few days.  And for those that do "tent-camp" you can have ceiling fans, AC power, and fully inflatable furniture to make you feel "at home."  Even at summer camps there are air-conditioned, carpeted rooms with bathrooms & showers in the "cabins" (which are more like hotel suites in some cases).  But this is not about venturing into the wilderness with a knife and burlap sack.  It's more about venturing at all.

In the days when there was still "back country" in the US, people loved going out and exploring.  The National Parks were designed to allow people to experience nature - the landscape, the scenery, the vegetation, the wildlife - as closely untouched as possible.  And people did it!  They hiked trails, crawled through crevasses, rode horses down riverbanks and up mountains.  At first, due to the expense of the travel, the wealthy and aristocracy were the only ones to experience the unforgettable.  But the vision of the NPS was to be accessible to the entire public, and eventually they all came.

Through most of the 1900s, it was a family tradition, a right of passage, to load up the family car and drive 1000s of miles to visit national parks.  (Note the picture at the top when they drove a car on the fallen Redwood!) The first interstate roadways in the west were created to facilitate the traveling tourists.  Even into the latter part of the 1900s it was tradition for the family to take 2-4 weeks and hit the open road, stopping at scenic pull-off spots on the road to gaze across the horizon at rolling hills, snow-capped peaks, and rainbow colored canyons.  The agenda was getting there, and eventually getting home.  Not much more.  The trip and the experience was worth it.

Think of vacations today.  The itinerary is set online, probably prescribed for us.  We go from garage to parking garage to shuttle to airport to shuttle to hotel to shuttle to amusement, flustered if any leg of the journey isn't smooth and uneventful.  At our destination we walk only to strap into new seats, watch bigger screens, experience simulated "adventure" and escape into fantasy for 3-5 minutes, preceded by a 3-5 hour zig-zag line of waiting.  (Of course you can always pay more for those speed-passes which get you in.) Sometimes we actually get bored and leave early!

But if we slow down enough and choose to head to one of these parks - or to a local nature preserve, state park, or even city park - the unpredictable awaits every time.  Why wait in line for 3-5 hours when you can hop in the car and watch as the landscape goes from trees to fields to hills to mountains to shoreline?  I've found that when you slow down enough to look to the left and the right, the world becomes infinitely larger.  Most times our pace is so brisk that we don't dare look to the side for fear of falling flat on our face!  But hiking through unfamiliar terrain causes us to watch our step, examine our surroundings, and observe in greater detail the greatness that has been created for us to enjoy.  We find ourselves not thinking about the inbox, not worrying about the DOW average, not pondering politics.  It is the one time we use technology to express our wonder at what we cannot create, or recreate with technology.  We can only do what people have done for decades - take a photograph and reluctantly share it with others knowing that the 2-D depiction, no matter what resolution, cannot truly express the grandeur of it all.

We find time to stop.
We find time to breathe.
We find time to smell.
We find time to listen.

This whole phenomenon got me thinking: Do we think of God's majesty (from the enormous to the intricate) anymore?  Do we really take time to reflect and take in all that God is?  Do we ever slow down and experience him with all the senses?

One thing about national parks is that you can't just go for an hour.  Even if that's all the time you plan for, you'll stay for a day, or a week.  Do we ever really experience God this way?

Is our agenda so packed that God only fits within a 15minute commute?  Do we multitask God-time? Do we take time to wander and wonder with God? To God?

Part 3 will come soon.  Thanks for taking the time to read!