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Archives For November 2010

The Difference Taking a Path Versus a Road Makes in Spiritual Growth

Margaret —  November 29, 2010 — 5 Comments

path

Lately I’ve been reading The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry when I stumbled on the distinction that he makes between a path and a road. He writes:

“The difference between a path and a road is not only the obvious one. A path is little more than a habit that comes with knowledge of a place. It is a sort of ritual of familiarity. As a form, it s a form of contact with a known landscape. It is not destructive. It is the perfect adaptation, through experience and familiarity, of movement to place; it obeys the natural contours; such obstacles as it meets it goes around.

A road, on the other hand, even the most primitive road, embodies a resistance against the landscape. Its reason is not simply the necessity for movement, but haste. Its wish is to avoid contact with the landscape; it seeks so far as possible to go over the country, rather than through it; its aspirations, as we see clearly in the example of our modern freeways, is to be a bridge; its tendency is to translate place into space in order to traverse it with the least effort. It is destructive, seeking to remove or destroy all obstacles in its way. The primitive road advanced by the destruction of the forest; modern roads advance by the destruction of topography” (p. 12).

When I read this, the Scripture that immediately came to mind is Matthew 7:13-14:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

When I’ve reflected on this passage, I’ve always thought about the two roads but if a narrow road is more like a path–then Berry’s words provoke me to think more deeply about Jesus’ teaching. A narrow road or path is more intimate, more humble, more in contour with the landscape–the way and means with which God has called us to live. Following a narrow path calls us into the unknown, a sense of expectation and exploration, a need to pay attention and be mindful, a willingness to change direction and adapt.

A wide road requires none of these things. On a wide road we can venture forward relatively mindlessly and follow the masses. We travel faster, a mindless wake of pollution following us. On a road, we rarely look back. The isolation of the speed makes it easy for us to lose track of our values–what’s truly important, as well as our relationship with God and each other.  We find ourselves more disconnected with each other and the land. Such a road can only lead to destruction.

Jesus, help me to rediscover the path and the intimacy with you naturally occurs when we choose to embrace the windier, quieter, more mysterious faith journey. Give me strength and wisdom to resist the wide road that seems faster and more efficient. May I choose to follow you today and every day. Amen.

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I Don’t Know Why It’s So Cheap–Great White Shark Update

Margaret —  November 28, 2010 — Leave a comment

shark

I just heard from my friend, Andy, this week regarding his great white shark adventure outside of Cape Town, South Africa. I had randomly asked him about his plans for the three days following the Lausanne Gathering.

“Anything interesting you’re going to do?” I asked.

“Great white shark diving,” he said and explained that it’s a popular tourist activity. A boat takes you out to sea, where they chum the water, and drop you in a tank (or without a tank if the water isn’t chummed), and let you swim with great white sharks. The terrifying na-na-na-na scenes from Jaws took me years to recover from so I’m in awe people pay to do this.

Then Andy mentioned what I consider an important detail: “It’s really cheap, but I don’t know why?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well the standard price is about $2000 to $2500 rand, and we’re paying half of that!”

I burst out laughing. Dude, if there’s one place in life not to cheap out…it’s in swimming with great white sharks.

Andy shared with me, “We had a great time with the sharks – super fun and they  did have a cage which was useful although it was more like a converted  supermarket trolly than what I was expecting!”

The picture above is from his adventures! Enjoy. Though I’m still convinced if you’re going to cut costs there are better places to trim expenses than when it comes to diving with great whites.

 

*Photo courtesy of here

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Third Place: The Need for Beautiful Creative Christian Communities

Margaret —  November 22, 2010 — 1 Comment

third placeWhile in South Africa, I had the privilege of being part of 3rd Place, a creative community of faith located in Pretoria. You can check it out at @3rd_place on Twitter or visit Third Place online. The church gathering embraces the creatives, the Gospel, the realities of Jesus, and the people on the margins in a beautiful, quality  way.

When I walked into Third Place, I saw a piece of artwork depicting Jesus as if he was on the cross next to a pair of nuclear warheads, a beating heart, an astronaut, a motorcycle, and a skull with a snake coming out of it’s eye. Let’s be honest: This isn’t your normal church artwork.

Yet as I discussed the creative expression with the pastor, Pierre, I began to see the themes of death, loss, redemption, hope, and transformation emerge. The artist, Houghaard, doesn’t create based on image as much as shape–allowing the shapes to create the art. I was moved by his creative offering as well as the story of God’s work in his life.

The walls of Third Place are marked by the arts–everything from stickers to outlines to chalk drawings. The concept behind the church’s name is much like the thought-train behind Starbucks. We have a primary place (home), and a secondary place (usually work) where we spend our time. Where is the third place?

For the creative and not-s0-creative community of Pretoria, this is the Third Place. And it’s lovely–a place where people can make their journeys of faith at their own pace, where you can belong long before you believe, and where Jesus can have His way in our lives with each of our unique sets of gifts.

One of the hallmarks of the church is quality. This may sound odd, but I instantly noticed the coffee cups–thick, black disposable paper cups which I’d hesitate to throw away they were so nice. Most churches I know would by the least expensive coffee cups, Third Place purchased some of the fanciest I’ve ever seen–communicating that they’re a place of quality, they celebrate quality, and they believe people are quality.

I couldn’t help but think that’s one reason we need creatives unleashed in all our faith communities. They push us beyond cheap knock-offs or what’s merely fast and easy to invest in better quality, more unique, one-of-a-kind expressions of faith. And that’s something the world is longing for.

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Notes from Croatia: Olive Trivia Your Mama (Probably) Didn’t Teach You

Margaret —  November 18, 2010 — Leave a comment

olive oil

“Mama” is the nickname I’ve given to our host’s mother, Angelica,—the 73-year-old who can spin circles around me in the olive grove climbing trees, plucking olives, sawing branches, and popping up above the crest of the highest tree in a moment’s notice.

Here are a few delicious details about olives:

1.Don’t fall for “Light” or “Lite” olive oil. That’s the fancy American marketing term for low quality. The flavorless oil isn’t any lighter in calories or fat and there’s no official definitional of “light” or “lite” by any regulating agencies including the International Olive Council (IOC). If you see “lite” olive oil, keep on shopping for the good stuff.

2.“First press” is a century old term no one use any more. Years ago, oil was created through hydraulic presses, today the vast majority of oil is made through a continuous centrifugal presses like what we’ve seen here in Croatia. The leftovers—a brownish, green muddy mix of leaves, pits, and skins—are sometimes re-processed to squeeze out the last drops of oil, but again, you don’t want this kind of oil.

3.Extra Virgin Olive Oils vary widely in taste, appearance, and color, and have no taste defects. They have a free acidity rate of no more than .8 gramps per 100 grams (.8%) and account for less than 10% of oil in many countries. If you’re going to spring for the good stuff, go extra virgin olive oil.

4.     Virgin Olive Oil is a slightly lower quality than extra virgin olive oil—with more free acidity. Ordinary virgin oil has even higher acidity with notable defects. The classification may soon become “Lapante Virgin Oil” which is not fit for consumption as is—and comes from bad fruit or careless processing.

5.     Olive oils range in flavor from mild to strong, vary widely in aromas, leave differing impressions in the throat, and offer a range in bitterness and flavor. When tasting olive oil, drink from a blue glass to hide the oil’s color and decrease visual bias in your assessment.

*Photo courtesy of here

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Croatia: Supple Hands & Olive Bliss

Margaret —  November 17, 2010 — 5 Comments

olives

We’ve been picking olives for two days, well, a day and a half. Rained out this morning, we traveled back to the fields at noon to pluck the green and purple delicacies. There’s no temptation to eat the harvest which is bitter to the taste, but the promise of bountiful olive oil awaits us at the end of our stay. Each worker receives a litre of olive oil for a full day’s work. (I also learned that roofers get a case of beer for each day they work–I’m thinking olive oil goes with olive pickers more than beer with roofers, but I’m going to have to chalk that one up to cultural differences). 

Picking olives isn’t rocket science, but the activity is precarious. Balancing in trees like an acrobat, climbing branches like a monkey, reaching for olives just beyond grasp fill our days. Yet I find the hands-on work delightful and rewarding. Clearing a single tree can take anywhere from two and a half to four hours depending on the fulness of the harvest as well as the amount of helping hands.

Speaking of hands, one of my biggest surprises is how supple and soft my hands are at the end of every day. While one might think hard, farming labor would lead to dried out, scratchy hands, picking olives leaves you with the sense you’re hands were just treated at a spa.

I express how good to feels to be out in the fields. Putting in a hard day’s labor. Recognizing that as hard as I work, our host’s 74-year-old mother who I’ve nicknamed “Mama” is working circles around me. As I pick olives, massaging each branch to release it’s treasure, I’m reminded that what we have in our refrigerators and kitchen cabinets is not a right as much as it is a privilege, a gift, an opportunity and obligation to give thanks to God who gives us all good things….even the fruit of the fields.

 

*Photo courtesy of here

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