verge

It happens every year around this time. I'm walking outside on a cold evening, I look up to see the harvest moon and I say to myself "Yep, change is in the air." But it's not the moon that prompts me to say this. It's the feeling I get as I'm looking up at the sky. The passing from summer into fall has always had an effect on me. This year that feeling has been even more prevalent. These past few weeks have been turbulent, to say the least. I've been going through the grueling process of interviewing for a new job (Minister for Youth and Young Adults at Wesley Church). The process has taken a lot out of me. Wesley has been my church home for seven years. It's very much a part of who I am. The people there mean a lot to me and I feel there's a lot at stake. I never thought I would interview for a job like this, but it seems like my life and the life of our church have intersected in a profound way. When the job became available, I was feeling the need to step out of my comfort zone and take a risk. The youth program has been very successful and wonderfully led. As a matter of fact, the previous leader and his wife are friends of mine and still a big part of the church. (As I'm writing this, I'm thinking that the average person might think I'm nuts for putting myself into such a situation, but it just feels like it's something I must do.) I know I have to risk possible failure. Bringing what I've learned on my own faith journey to the young people of Wesley is something I feel compelled to do. I was finally offered the job tonight. Change is definitely in the air. But it's a good change. God is good.

joe harvey at 6:17 PM

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(Mary Magdalene Announces the Resurrection)

According to a 2001 survey by The Barna Group, 93% of Protestant senior pastors are male. Yet this statistic stands in stark contrast with some sobering facts: women are far more likely than men to pray regularly, go to church, and attend Sunday school. At six of the nine seminaries of the Graduate Theological School, women now outnumber the men. And, at Baptist Theological Seminary, 1/3 of the students are women. If, as Galatians 3:28 puts it, "there is no male and female, for we are all one in Christ," why is it we are so hesitant to place women in more traditional roles of leadership? I have to admit that when I found out that the minister who was to preside over my father-in-laws funeral was a woman, I was a bit stand-offish. But upon meeting her and hearing her perform the service, I found her to be a very spiritual and compassionate person--which is far more than I can say about most male pastors I've met. I find this true of many women--in fact it was the influence of the matriarchs of my family who had the most profound impact on my own early spiritual life. This revelation is not so surprising to me considering the prominence of women in the four Gospels. Women sat at the foot of the cross (the men ran.) Women were present at the empty tomb. And, women told the disciples to go forward with Christ's message. In the end, I myself am comfortable with letting the Wisdom of God lead us on this as in all things. (Sophia, by the way, is ironically, the feminine metaphor for God and the Wisdom of God.)

joe harvey at 10:34 AM

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This summer Zachary learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels. He did it in five days. I’ve never seen anyone so determined and disciplined as him. When I was helping him learn, he would tell me when he had enough practice for that day. He never got frustrated, even when he wrecked into the curb on the fourth day. After that he decided he’d had enough. For a moment, I thought he would get discouraged, but he didn’t. He was back out the very next day more determined then ever. That was the fifth day. We surprised his mom that night with his accomplishment.

This weekend Zachary hit another milestone: he learned to tie his shoes. I’m not sure how long it took him. He practiced with his mom for a while and then on his own. The only time he got frustrated was when I tried to help him when he was struggling--he wanted to do it on his own, so I let him. I’ve seen a reassuring trend in him this summer. He’s confident, determined, and independent.

Learning to ride a bike or tie your own shoes is something you never forget--it becomes second nature. We soon forget how big of an accomplishment each of these things are, for they seem like little things to us now. We turn our attention toward bigger things and forget about the small victories in our everyday lives. I think we would all be much happier if we didn’t take so many things for granted and learned to celebrate more. After all, it’s often the little things that really matter.

joe harvey at 7:00 AM

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How we see Jesus is paramount to how we live out our lives. As Christians our ultimate goal is to live like Christ. "In Hinduism, Jesus is regarded as truly divine, but not uniquely divine. He is seen as one of the many incarnations of divinity, and perhaps even the greatest of them all. But he is not given the unique place which Christians give him, as the one and only Son of God. One Hindu teacher, Swami Sivananda, said of Jesus: 'Two thousand years ago, divinity incarnated on this planet to show all humanity the glorious path to everlasting life by actually living the divine life upon this earth.'"

"This image shows Jesus in a way that is an interesting meeting of the Hindu and Christian traditions. He sits and gestures like a guru, but the marks of the crucifixion on his hands have been given special emphasis. He also appears to be levitating, which might be a reference to the ascension of Jesus back into heaven after his resurrection. Finally, he is sitting in the middle of a turbulent, windy background, which refers to the wind that was heard on the Day of Pentecost, heralding the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the opening of Jesus's good news to all peoples." Ultimately, how you see Jesus is how you see yourself. How do you see Jesus?

joe harvey at 4:40 PM

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The First Day

joe harvey at 12:25 PM

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Yesterday was Zachary's first day of Kindergarten. He did awesome--his mom and I did OK, too. "Don't sweat it, Mom and Dad," he said, the cool five-year old reassuring his worried parents. We walked him to the bus and he got on with the bigger kids like he's done it a thousand times. Between Erica's third birthday on Friday and Zach's first day of school, I feel like I'm getting old. It seems like only yesterday since my first day of school. I remember getting on the bus with my brothers by my side. That was twenty-eight years ago. It's times like these that I question what I've been doing with my life. What have I accomplished? Whereas in the past I would have dwelled upon these thoughts for days, now I only allow myself a short time for contemplation--not about the past, but about the present. Because I know it doesn't matter how you measure-up to society's expectations, but how you are living-up to God's. Am I being the person God has called me to be? What am I doing now to live-out God's love here, today?

A couple of days ago I saw The Last Samurai--a great movie. The highlight of the film for me was the interplay between Captain Woodrow Algren (Tom Cruise's character) and the Samurai Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe, the Japanese actor's character). During one of their extended "conversations," as Katsumoto called them, Algren describes his take on his present set of circumstances: "each man does what he can until he finds his destiny." There's a lot of truth in that. We all do what we can until we find our own path. The difficult part is the "until" part--what we do in the meantime. Do we succumb to the pressures of society or do we do the best we can? Should I worry about my son going off on his own in the "big wide world," as one of our friends called it, or should I be content with knowing I've done the best I can to prepare him? "Don't sweat it," Zachary says. Words of wisdom from a five-year old samurai.

joe harvey at 11:01 AM

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