The Sustainist

The Episcopal Way

The Episcopal Way, the new book co-authored by me and my good friend and colleague, the Rev. Stephanie Speller (author of Radical Welcome) just came out in print last week. Co-writing this book had caused me to examine why I am a person of faith and more significantly, why I follow the way of the Episcopal Church in the way I live out my life as a Christian.  It is not an easy task to describe one’s faith structure and yet, Stephanie and I were invited to do so in this book.   In Chapter One, Stephanie and I explained the phrase, “The Episcopal Way” as “not simply a common set of doctrines, ideas, or even words to pray, but a combination of practices, attitudes, and an approach to God . . .”   The following excerpt continues the exploration of this phrase.

There are plenty of reasons to appreciate this phrase. First, because the early disciples were known as followers of “the Way,” before they were even called Christians (see Acts 9:2). Jesus called himself “the way, the truth and the life,” and those who turned their lives inside out to identify with him were knowingly following the Way.

Second, speaking of the Way, as in a path or road, suggests that the Episcopal Way is a journey. Indeed, it begins with the original story of Jesus’ disciples and winds through centuries of the church’s development, failure, and redemption. It continues to this day, as we face an exhilarating and quickly changing world. It broadens into a future for which we must remain flexible, curious, and grounded. Walk even a little while with Episcopalians, and you understand that for us faith is a journey, one with a beginning, a middle, but no true end . . . except closer relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Finally, a “way” is a method, style, or manner of doing something. For us, this means the Episcopal Way is not just something you believe; it is something you do. A Latin phrase captures this wisdom: lex orandi, lex credendi. Loosely translated, it means: “the law of praying is the law of believing.” In other words, the way we pray shapes or conditions the way we believe. You become Episcopalian by practicing the Episcopal method of following Jesus, praying as Episcopalians have prayed for centuries, and living the Episcopal style of building community and relating to neighbors. No signature on a faith statement is required. Live with us, pray with us, practice the Way with us. Then you will understand. It is a roomy way of being Christian, and a deeply faithful one.

If you are interested in reading more, get a copy.  Share your thoughts on this way of believing/living and explore your own faith structure.  Join in the conversation by liking our Facebook page

Note:  To my readers from the Pacific Northwest (or in Canada, southwest), I hope to see you at the Holy Currencies Orientation workshop in Seattle, WA August 8-9, 2014.  Go to our website and register:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist and learn more about Holy Conferencing: August 8-9, 2014 Seattle, WA Holy Currencies Orientation September 3-4, 2014 Chicago, IL KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training November 16-20, 2014 Memphis, TN Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries March 19-24, 2015 Los Angeles, CA Gracious Leadership Training Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training July 20-25, 2015 Los Angeles, CA Gracious Leadership Training Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Reflection Questions for Proper 13 (Year A): Genesis 32:22-31    What did you learn from this story about your need to be blessed? Psalm 17:1-7, 16  What does it mean for you to see the face of God? Isaiah 55:1-5   What did you learn from this text about creating a sustainable community? Psalm 145:8-9, 15-22   What does believing in a compassionate God mean to you? Psalm 119:129-126   How does God’s word give light to your life? Romans 9:1-5   How do you stay connected with Christ? Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52   How will you respond to Jesus’s challenge: You give them something to eat?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

 

Mustard Seed

What do Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, Gloria Estefan, Marlene Dietrich, Andy Garcia, and Elie Wiesel have in common? 

They were all refugees!  Many of them came to the U.S. as young children escaping persecutions and oppressions. 

Now think about the children refugees crossing the U.S. border from Central America.  Could there be future influential scientists, Secretaries of State, entertainers, actors and writers among them?  Imagine the potentials of sharing our abundance with these children, and perhaps, we can arrive at a creative, generous, just and compassionate resolution.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32)

Note:  To my readers from the Pacific Northwest (or in Canada, southwest), I hope to see you at the Holy Currencies Orientation workshop in Seattle, WA August 8-9, 2014.  Go to our website and register:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist and learn more about Holy Conferencing: August 8-9, 2014 Seattle, WA Holy Currencies Orientation September 3-4, 2014 Chicago, IL KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training November 16-20, 2014 Memphis, TN Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Reflection Questions for Proper 12 (Year A): Genesis 29:15-28    What did you learn from this passage about tradition and individual desire? Psalm 105:1-11  What does it mean for you to continually seek God’s face? Psalm 128   Why is it a blessing to “fear” God? 1 Kings 3:5-12   How do we attain wisdom to discern what is right? Psalm 119:129-126   How does God’s word give light for you? Romans 8:26-39   What does it mean for you to know that nothing can separate you from the love of God?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

 

Blowin’ In The Wind

My prayers go out to the families and friends of those who died on flight MH17.  In the midst of this tragedy, one thing is clear to me.   It took the deaths of 298 innocent persons from 11 countries to wake us up to the absurdity and obscenity of war. What could possibly be accomplished by sending destructive machines through the air to kill people and destroy properties?

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ’n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

- Bob Dylan

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist and learn more about Holy Conferencing: August 8-9, 2014 Seattle, WA Holy Currencies Orientation September 3-4, 2014 Chicago, IL KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training November 16-20, 2014 Memphis, TN Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Reflection Questions for Proper 11 (Year A): Genesis 28:10-19a    How does it mean for you to have a God who will not leave you until what is promised you is done? Psalm 139:1-11  How is your darkness not dark for you? Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19   Why is it important that the righteous must be kind? Romans 8:12-25   How do you grow together with Creation? Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43   What can you learn from this parable about the relationship between good and evil?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

 

Share Abundance

Amidst all the debates about the flood of undocumented children crossing the U.S. border this week, one story stood out for me that might help us, as a nation, deal with this. On Monday, a Frontier Airlines pilot was forced to land an already delayed D.C.-Denver flight at the Cheyenne Airport in Wyoming because of bad weather.  He had to deal with 160 agitated hungry passengers inside a hot plane.  He made the announcement, “Ladies and gentleman, Frontier Airlines is known for being one of the cheapest airlines in the U.S., but your captain is not cheap.  I just ordered pizza for the entire plane."

Meanwhile, the Cheyenne Domino's Pizza got their staff together and made 35 pizzas in 30 minutes and delivered them to Flight 719. The manager said that the staff was actually “super excited.”  "They had a blast. It was a challenge," he said. "It was definitely one of those `challenge accepted' moments in time."

Of course, Frontier Airlines got national media attention. The pilot’s investment definitely paid off in the long run with all this good P.R. for the company. 

We now have thousands of children stranded in-between nations.  They are hungry; they are scared. Their situation is a thousand times more severe than the 160 passengers’ on Flight 719.  What are we going to do?  Learn from our Frontier Airlines pilot and the workers at Domino Pizza; accept this crisis as a challenge and share our abundant skills and resources. 

Think of sharing our talents and resources as an investment.  Instead of spending our resources to do all the legal stuff and send them back to their home countries facing more oppressions and hardships, here is what I suggest we do:  Welcome the children, give them shelter, give them food, give them supportive communities, and more importantly, give them education. Help them maintain the language and culture of their home countries as well as teaching them English and the U.S. cultures. Teach them about the gifts and challenges of their home countries AND teach them about freedom and democracy. Teach them to be leaders who strive for peace and justice and, more importantly, who can affect change.  When they are older, encourage them to go back to their home countries to facilitate benevolent changes so that future generations will not need to put their children in danger, stranded on the border for nations again.

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist and learn more about Holy Conferencing: July 14-18, 2014 Los Angeles, CA Gracious Leadership Training Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training August 8-9, 2014 Seattle, WA Holy Currencies Orientation September 3-4, 2014 Chicago, IL KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training November 16-20, 2014 Memphis, TN Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Reflection Questions for Proper 10 (Year A): Genesis 25:19-34    How does the struggle between Esau and Jacob connect with your won struggle? Psalm 119:105-112  How do you apply your heart to fulfill God’s commandments? Isaiah 55:10-13   In what ways have God’s words rejuvenated you like water refreshes the earth? Psalm 65:9-14   How does this passage challenge your idea of God? Psalm 145:8-15   What does this text say to you about your relationship with the earth?  Romans 8:1-11   What does it mean for the Spirit of God to dwell in you? Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23   What/where is the good soil of your community?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

 

Focus on the Baby

One of my nieces gave birth to a beautiful baby a couple of weeks ago.  The whole family is excited and photos of the baby are flying through the cloud filling our phones and electronic devices with the innocent amazing image of a human being. 

Meanwhile, I was distracted by the civil war in Iraq, the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the flood of undocumented children crossing the border into the U.S., the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestine (again), and the World Cup competitions.  Who wins?  Who loses?  Who belongs?  Who doesn’t belong?  Who has control over which land?  Who has the right to claim what?  Who lives?  Who dies?   These questions overwhelm me causing me to feel hopeless for a moment. 

But then I stop and say to myself, “Focus on the baby.  Focus on the baby!” Things become simpler when we focus on the baby.  A baby puts everything in perspective.   A baby is disarming simply because she is completely trusting and dependent on the people around her.  A baby doesn’t care about whether he is documented or not.   A baby does not ask whether she belongs or not.  A baby just belongs.  A baby looks at you and you know you have to share and give.  A baby may seem completely helpless and yet a baby somehow sustains the people around him.  Hold a baby in your arms and you will know what I mean.  

Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Matthew 11:25-26)

A baby reminds us of the wisdom that somehow was lost when we became adults.  This wisdom is that we, human beings, belong to each other and we are to sustain each other.  So, focus on the baby!

 

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist and learn more about Holy Conferencing: July 14-18, 2014 Los Angeles, CA Gracious Leadership Training Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training August 8-9, 2014 Seattle, WA Holy Currencies Orientation September 3-4, 2014 Chicago, IL KI Catalyst (Facilitator) Training November 16-20, 2014 Memphis, TN Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Reflection Questions for Proper 9 (Year A): Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67    How does this passage challenge your ideas about courtship and marriage? Psalm 45:11-18  What does a royal wedding have to do with God? Song of Solomon 2:8-13   Why do you think this love poem is in the Bible? Zechariah 9:9-12   How does this passage challenge your idea of God? Psalm 145:8-15   How does the concept of God relate to you in this Psalm? Romans 7:15-25a   In what ways do you identify with the struggle of the writer of this text? Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30   How can you see and hear the truth like an infant again?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org