Worldly Holiness

By Still Waters

“If solitude were primarily an escape from a noisy milieu, they could easily become very self-centered forms of asceticism. But solitude and silence are for prayer. The Desert Fathers did not think of solitude as being alone, but as being alone with God.” – Henri Nouwen

Whew! What a time away from the noise of life to reflect in the desert. I’m about a month away from a significant, if seemingly impractical, retreat spending someone else’s money to be silent, alone [for the most part] and renewed. The site for my retreat was the high desert in the northwest corner of New Mexico, a Benedictine monastery which is home to about 30 monks who have committed to the monastic life, the vows of silence, chastity, simplicity, poverty and prayer. Not many who do that these days.

Needless to say, the time was very rich and slow. I spent a lot of time being quiet, looking at the ants, listening to the birds, watching the clouds, praying and journaling. And of course I took long walks with my camera in hand. I was fortunate to receive a grant through the Covenant Church funded by the Lilly foundation in an effort to help pastors stay healthy, committed to excellence in ministry and connected to God. I was more than ready for this focused time in silence and solitude. Over the next few weeks I want to tell part of the story, part of my discovery and learning, and the deeper awareness of God’s love and generosity.

I feel I have a lot to share from my time of silence, which is ironic don’t you think? The Psalms became more real–again. The raw, human side that splashes out of the Psalms of lament especially. As a daily companion, the Psalms keep me honest. I cannot kid myself about the depth of my own feelings over life’s difficult pieces or the purity of my own heart when I regularly sit with them. These ancient passages in the middle of my Bible are so real and I’m glad, very glad they are in my sacred scripture. No pretense, not white-washed religiosity; plenty of passion, vulnerability, and awareness of God’s presence and sometimes his seeming absence in life. My concluding observation in this first reflection–God IS aware, and we CAN NOT be aware of that unless we stop, listen, and be silent sometimes.

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Morning at the Beach, originally uploaded by papalars.

Here is a shot that came out nice. A morning walk on the beach on the Oregon Coast over Christmas brought some amazing sea scapes.This shot was a stitch job of 3 or 4 individual HDR pictures. Since I do 3 bracketed shots for an typical HDR the total shots for this one picture would be 9-12 pictures.

Here is a slide show with a link to my SmugMug account. Enjoy!

Wenona, originally uploaded by papalars.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to be at the launch of my pastor, Eugene Cho, and his wife’s non profit called, One Days Wages. The event was hosted by the Q Cafe, included some live jazz music, Hors D Oeuvres, and important conversation with the guests about global poverty. One Days Wages is an international grassroots movement dedicated to ending extreme global poverty [www.onedayswages.org ]. We were reminded during the evening that nearly 3 billion people live on less than US$2/day. About 1.4 billion live in extreme poverty = less than US$1.25/day.

ODW exists to promote awareness, invite simple giving, and support sustainable relief through partnerships, especially with smaller organizations in developing regions. ODW believes that the collaboration of technology, social media, and human relationships is one way to invite people around the world to join in the fight against extreme global poverty, simply by donating 0.4% of their annual salaries, otherwise known as their One Day’s Wages.

ODW invests 100% of all public donations in grassroots organizations around the world that are already fighting extreme global poverty in alignment with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. Of his family’s decision to donate their entire 2009 salary to help start the organization, Cho says: “We want to communicate to people that they don’t have to be a rock star, a millionaire, or on Hollywood’s A-List to make an impact in the world. If everyone does their part, we can end extreme global poverty in our lifetime.” ODW is inviting both the Seattle and global community to join the movement in some of these practical ways:

1. Visiting http://www.onedayswages.org and donating their One Day’s Wages.
2. Following One Day’s Wages on twitter (http://www.twitter.com/onedayswages), joining the Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/onedayswages), and spreading the word to family, friends, colleagues, and beyond.

I think sometimes in western evangelicalism we use the words of Jesus to discourage ourselves from thinking we can really make an impact on the issue of global poverty. “The poor you will always have with you” came from the mouth of Christ we say[Matthew 26:11]. We must remember, however, that this same Jesus just a chapter earlier said the following, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me…” [Matthew 25:35]. This should keep us alert to what Jesus calls us to do. I highly recommend partnering with One Days Wages. It is a great way to do something about the poor.

On my way to the event last Saturday night I stopped by the Ballard marina to grab this picture of the boat above. I was struck again by all the interesting names people put on their boats. This evening I noticed Joy, Four Winds, Heidi and Charity and this one, Wenona. There is a story I’m sure behind each name.

Enjoy my slideshow of select photos from the trip to the Pastor’s and Spouse retreat in Banff. You can buy prints by clicking the link or slideshow below. Have a great weekend!

It’s been awhile since I posted a photo on my Friday Fotos feature. It might have something to do with the fact that we bought a house in May and have been occupied with the ins and outs of finishing it. Not that we are doing all the work. As someone said to me recently, you want certain jobs done by a professional. I would be dangerous with a plumbers wrench, let alone a back hoe. Put a camera in my hand and I will claim some level of expertise however.

This series of pictures was taken when I was at a Pastors’ and Spouse retreat in Banff Canada 2 weeks ago. I was there to network, tell the story of what God is doing with our project and some of the things I offer local churches. It was a great time to connect with over 80 leaders from our Covenant churches across Canada. The hard part of this trip was the Canadian Rockies. This fits into the category of “suffering for Jesus,” a regular bullit point on my job description. Just kidding.

Anyway, I was able to get up to Lake Louise before the meetings started for sunrise. Turned out I got lucky. I hit the only sunny day of the week which yielded some beautiful views and colors of the sky, the wild turquoise water, the jagged mountains and incredible reflections on the water. This was an amazing day and it was very serene before the rush of people showed up.

I think my favorite picture in this series is the one I entitled “dynamic serenity.” I got this wild idea to produce ripples in the lake with a snowball. To me true solitude is bringing the movement and activity of one’s life to the quiet place where we can appropriately reflect on it in God’s presence. If the quiet moments are totally void of any of the stuff of life, it seems empty to me. Yet if all of life is merely full of ripples we have another kind of empty…a life of action void of meaning, purpose and anchors that give some kind of orientation to life.

Prayer and solitude are critical to my journey with God and with others. It grounds my action and relationships with purpose and meaning. I need both and the back and forth creates a rhythm to my life and walk with God. By the way, this photo already has over 350 views on my flickr account. Check it out. You can buy this or other prints in the series on my SmugMug account now too.