McLaren, Brian Naked Spirituality – A Life With God in 12 Simple Words HarperOne – an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers New York, NY. Copyright © 2011 by Brian D. McLaren.

By Bill Dahl

Beyond Beautiful – or – It’s Wednesday – But Sunday’s A Comin’

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas has said, “Theology is not best understood as a system — narrative might have something to do with theology.”[i] Narrative is fine Stanley – but I’d like some tools that have practical application to my life, and those around me, as a person of faith. I’d also like some boots on the ground authenticity from the real life experiences of a fellow sojourner.

Enter Brian McLaren – Naked Spirituality – A Life With God in 12 Simple Words. Here’s the honest truth about the impact this book had on my life:

I had just finished Chapter 20 “Why – When You Have Come to Zero.” My wife arrived home from work. She began to prepare dinner and I wandered into the kitchen to catch up together on the day’s events – an uneventful Wednesday.

As we stood there chatting, the phone rang. It was our daughter Liz calling from her home in Utah. Liz and her fiancée Aaron had buried Aaron’s mother on Monday – just two days ago. They had just received a phone call – Aaron’s father had been killed in a car crash.

We concluded the tearful call with our daughter. I went into another room and sat silently – questions, remorse, sorrow, anger, dismay, confusion – ricocheting throughout my being. We ate half our dinner and adjourned to a couch. Jacki looked at me – sorrow and befuddled are two words that were embossed on her facial expression. We were both at zero – in shock – wounded – naked and fully exposed to the unconscionable in life. I leaned forward, grabbed my reading glasses and Brian’s book. I turned to the first page of Chapter 20 and read the chapter aloud to my wife.

I looked up and closed the book. “Beautiful?” I remarked, gazing at my wife. – “Beyond Beautiful,” she replied – as restorative waves of soothing, healing truth rolled through our souls.

In Naked Spirituality – A Life With God in 12 Simple Words Brian McLaren gets real with God, with life, the seasons inherent within human existence – sharing his boots on the ground experience as a fellow sojourner. Another formulaic, step-by-step, overly simplistic, bogus promise-laden landmine from an over-caffeinated evangelical Christian? Not Hardly.

At this stage in life, I need to learn from the experience of others…others who live in my world…the real world – the world of faith that Brian McLaren lives in. I’m worn out on opinions, perspectives and narrative nonsense of people trying to sell books – suggesting that “if you do this, you’ll be fine.”

In this book, Brian shares his own personal life lessons that are raw, real and uncut. McLaren’s dance with language provides hues of color that I had overlooked in the life of. He provides vistas and vantage points where the reader can stand side-by-side with him gazing beyond what we are presently able to visualize. There’s no artificial ingredients in the flavors McLaren serves up.

Take a seat with Brian McLaren – at his table – The table of life with the living God. Enjoy the feast that Naked Spirituality provides – one course at a time. Savor the tender, succulent, mysterious seasonings contained in each course: Here, Thanks, O, Sorry, Help, Please, When, No, Why, Behold, Yes and Silence.

No, this is not another fast-food systematic theology or another bland narrative. For us, Naked Spirituality is a unique and nutritious innovation from Brian McLaren – as he continues to evolve his craft in delivering fare for the faithful. There’s one thing that separates Brian from the rest of the authors in faith and culture – he has eaten his own stuff before he allows anybody else to sample it in print. He readily identifies the faith dishes he has dined on, admits the tastes he has worn out, the spices that have turned out to be bland, the sinew of life he has choked on – the wards of people he has encountered, hospitalized after being poisoned with the fare of faith served up with a seal of God attached to it.

“Beautiful?” – “Yes – Beyond Beautiful.”

For us, this book was, and shall be, both a timely and enduring blessing. For us, it was It’s Wednesday – But Sunday’s a Comin’.

Forgive me Tony – Thank you Brian!

Please pray for our daughter Liz, son-in-law Aaron and their daughter Rebekka.

This book is precious – so is life – so is the privilege of relationship with the living God – here – today – in any and all circumstances – even when you’re at zero….or not.

NOTES

PROLOGUE: The Porpoise Diving Life

Part I. – Now What?

Day 41 – Words Cannot Describe It

Day 42 – I Never Expected It

Day 43 – Are You Threatening Me?

Day 44 – Gasping For Air

Day 45 – People Are Strange

Day 46 – A Crying Shame

Day 47 – A Good Night’s Sleep

Day 48 – Life’s a Beach

Day 49 – A Fish Out of Water

Day 50 – Without A Doubt

Part II. – Say What?

Day 51 – Lip Service

Day 52 – Hang in There

Day 53 – The Invisible Killers

Day 54 – Riptide

Day 55 – Don’t Leave Your Wingman

Day 56 – Thar She Blows!

Day 57 – Take a Deep _____

Day 58 – Out There…

Day 59 – Just Between Us

Day 60 – Collateral Damage

Part III. – So What?

Day 61 – A Mouthful

Day 62 – Born to…

Day 63 – You’re All Wet

Day 64 – What’s it all about?

Day 65 – Rolling

Day 66 – Ideas Have Consequences

Day 67 – On Porpoise

Day 68 – Namesake

Day 69 – I See

Day 70 – Feet First

Part IV. – You What?

Day 71 – Petering Out

Day 72 – Diving

Day 73 – Herring

Day 74 – Echoes

Day 75 – Autonomic

Day 76 – Buckle Up

Day 77 – Wild Animals

Day 78 – Back Off

Day 79 – Reverse

Day 80 – Full

EPILOGUE: Reality For The Rest of Us

It’s become very clear to me that the inspiration for this book is priceless, and it should be shared with you in print, without cost.

I hope you enjoy it.

Now a few important introductory notes: Don’t Skip This Section.

I didn’t choose to write this book. I confess that the book is an act of obedience solely from the standpoint of getting God off my back. For me, sometimes “my obedience” is that simple, to be brutally honest. I’m still learning and trying to take the risks I need to take to continue to grow in Him. I’m finding that many of these risks require me to extend beyond boundaries that I have heretofore been comfortable hiding behind….He’s just not allowing me to live that way anymore.

Structure of the book: A Prologue provides the conceptual context for the reader. The Prologue is followed by four sections with ten, 3-5 page stories ( Beginning at “Day 41″ through Day 80 ). The lead-in that starts each new “day” is a brief statement about my actual observations of Porpoise. This lead-in is followed by a non-fiction story about people I have encountered in my own life, along with a discussion of what the interaction with them has come to mean to me from a “Porpoise Diving Life” perspective. I tie in the initial observation about the Porpoise that began the story into the final paragraph. These are true stories. I use pseudonyms to maintain confidentiality, with the exception of Day 41 and a few others that I won’t point out.

My life continues to be shaped by words, as well as experiences and interaction with others. I remain deeply grateful for those whose writings have served to mould my heart and soul. To share my story without including some of these authors and their words, would not be possible. This book is as much a spiritual journey memoir as it is anything else. I continue to be challenged, formed and reformed by God. This book/spiritual memoir has absolutely nothing to do with an attempt to get you to buy into a bunch of beliefs. I do hope it causes you to think, to ponder, to wonder, to desire to move beyond wherever you’re at toward the God of More.

I do believe the following and hope the book addresses this: “There are millions of people, a species if you will, who are terribly confused, wounded, angry and fearful about life and God. No matter how deeply folks feel about their faith in God, their lives don’t seem to match up with all the promises that are being sold in the name of Christ in this world. Deep within every human being is a voice that whispers (some more frequently and intensely than others)…”What have I done wrong? I never expected this to happen? Life is not turning out as I had hoped or had been led to believe. What did I do to deserve this? Where’s God? Am I some sort of exception? Is there a reality for the rest of us?”

The book is about the ordinary, everyday of our lives over the past 20 years. I’ve become exhausted reading books from pastors, ex-pastors, missionaries, theologians…everybody that has some sort of present or former connection with the established church…or those on a mission from God. That’s my problem…I’m trying to get over it. As such, The Porpoise Diving Life is a voice that needs to be heard today. It is the voice of those, like us, who have sat in the pews of organized religious practice for some of our lives, yet, lived with Jesus, outside the church and/or programmed or professional ministry. It is a voice of experience. It is the layman’s life – A life populated with uncertainty, the unexpected, the joy, the humor, the irony, the inexplicable, the mundane, the marginalized, the mediocrity, the ups and down’s of it all. It’s all about us…God, you and me. It’s The Porpoise Diving Life. There’s a reality for the rest of us…the truth that Jesus ruthlessly adores those whose life experience seems to occur outside the confines of the theology of linear living espoused by mainstream evangelicalism….yet, it is the lives of the children of The Creator.
There are millions of people on this planet who are never going to buy and read The Purpose Driven Life authored by an avowed U.S. evangelical preacher. Like I’ve said a number of times publicly, I’ve read the book three times and have been blessed by it. The Porpoise Diving Life is NOT a dig at the other book. It is a work that moves beyond purpose-driven, as evidenced by our lives, and the millions of others, like us, who don’t swim within the purpose-driven safe harbors where many have come to reside in the seas of faith.

However, The Purpose Driven Life crowd was never intended to be The Porpoise Diving Life’s audience. Interestingly enough, I have been absolutely astounded by the sheer thousands of people who have sent email to me who are perplexed about Pastor Warren’s theology and book, and anybody remotely associated with this “purpose-driven” stuff. (Frankly, the world’s religions are filled with angry people — Christianity is no exception. The people who put their lives and beliefs in print (including yours truly) become unwitting targets for the spewing of rage and anger – pray for the angry people you know today). This type of feedback has come from hundreds in the mainstream evangelical community (including dozens of pastors) who feel that the “purpose-driven/Warrenites” have come to constrict the path that God’s Spirit is urging them to follow. However, “popular support” would not allow them to journey beyond the boundaries the purpose-driven proponents have defined. (Some of you in full-time ministry work would probably understand these comments much better than I pretend to). Strangely enough, many of these folks are terribly attracted to The Porpoise Diving Life as a path to move them beyond the confines of purpose-driven.

Frankly, the emergent movement (and The Porpoise Diving Life) owe Rick Warren and the purpose-driven theology he authored, a great deal of gratitude. My faith journey is one where I have learned that most often, God leads me one step at a time. However, I need to be careful that I pace myself, and don’t trip on others, or myself, as I attempt to follow His leading. What Warren’s theology did for me (and I hope it does for you) is illuminate the pathway ahead, beyond where he left off. The emergent movement has an opportunity to consider Warren’s journey for what it is – the chronicle of a fellow faith sojourner. This is what the sub-title to The Porpoise Diving Life actually refers to: “Picking Up Where Purpose Driven Peters Out.” Our journey may not be in the same direction, encounter the same terrain, have the same demographic characteristics as the Warrenite expedition. We may not use the same compass, or even interpret the opportunities to define the mission and plot the route the same way as the Warrenite’s did, or are doing. Frankly, we may have the opinion that the Warrenite’s are headed in the wrong direction, or exploring terrain that has already been mapped out by others. Finally, you might have the opinion that the Warrenite’s are lost and taking a whole host of other folks with them. Fine!

However, I think it is incumbent upon us as faith adventurers to use the chronicles of the journey of other faith explorer(s), as reference material that cause us to intentionally evaluate the coordinates and mission for our own, ongoing, expedition. There’s nothing worse than being out on a hike with people who spend the day bitching and disparaging the people who recommended the jumping off point, the map, or the suggestion of going for a hike today, when, after all, we’re the one’s who are responsible to “take it from here and make of this day all that it can be.” You see, it’s all God, you and me. As I’ve said, it’s all about us. We’re the ones on this part of the hike together. We need to re-focus on our Leader, The God of More, Jesus Christ. An essential part of this re-focusing is to examine the route, beliefs and methods of the faith explorers who have preceded us, as well as the tenor of the dialogue amongst ourselves.

Does the above sound like a ringing endorsement for purpose-driven theology? It’s not. Does it appear to be the extension of an olive branch to people who have adopted a purpose-driven worldview? I hope so. Am I suggesting that the intensity and expression of cynicism I have recounted above from too many inside and out of the emergent movement is wearisome, as well as a cause for concern? Absolutely.

We can and must move beyond where purpose-driven peters out toward a reality for the rest of us. In concluding these opening remarks, please understand the fact that I remain deeply grateful, blessed and encouraged by the emergent movement as “God has often used those with troubled hearts to speak in their society and to call His people closer to Himself.” (1)

Jesus never promised us that our existence in this world and journey of faith with Him would be without pain, uncertainty, the unexpected, the inexplicable, the incomprehensible and hardship. Perhaps there’s another dimension of truth to the Gospel message that people are yearning to hear that is outside the confines of a well-ordered, trouble-free, formula-based, prosperity laden, purpose-driven life. There is. It’s The Porpoise Diving Life ©. There is a flip-side to the “It’s not about you” theology from Pastor Warren that people are desperate to hear; “It’s all about us,” is the tag line for The Porpoise Diving Life © that appears to be terribly inviting to people, particularly when it’s coupled with the sub-title “Reality for the Rest of Us.”

It’s about God, you and me. “It is time that we demand more of ourselves as Christians. We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, and if the world is going to see, feel, and touch him, it will have to be through us.”(2) It’s all about us! God, you and me.

Yet, there is a vastly larger audience outside mainstream evangelical Christianity whom God loves and seeks. These are the folks who know there is MORE to what evangelical Christians say there is. My Jesus yearns for relationship with these folks beyond the confines of the safe harbors evangelical Christianity has constructed. Many of these folks have been “exposed” in some way to various flavors of Christianity. Many are wounded, confused, curious, hopeful…in need of the reality that they are “not alone…not exceptions” to the love of Jesus…that perhaps, there is vastly “MORE” to Christ that what we Christians have led people to believe and experience in their lives. What about those who are curious about God, yet don’t want anything to do with what denominational (and “non”) Christianity has to offer….and have nobody to turn to safely express their doubts and concerns or ask questions Christians have been trained to ignore, reject, argue, dismiss or overlook.

I’m not a gimmicky guy. I can’t pretend to explain to you why God decided to do what He’s done to my heart that motivated me to obey by writing what he injected into my soul. Frankly, as I have said above, “obedience” for me in writing this book has been an outright attempt to get God off my back, rather than some lofty, fuzzy explanation that makes me look good. As the book may indicate, “some of the greatest gifts that have been granted to me have been given to me against my will.” Translation….I would NOT have chosen the people, circumstances and events that have come to populate my life, if I had been the one doing the choosing. However, The Porpoise Diving Life has forced me to recall them, and to confess how God has both revealed Himself, transformed others and me through the everyday, the everyone, the everything…a process that continues today. It’s an encouragement to you to reflect on this reality in your own life.

I hope the book causes people to become able to see God in new ways that they have become socialized to overlook. Christianity is a way of living to be lived outside “the church.” That’s the way we’ve lived our lives. He is “among us,” wherever that might be. There exists an incredible appetite for God in humanity today. However, the way God has become “packaged” in evangelical Christianity is missing more people than it is impacting. The results of social research regarding the impact of Christianity is one of overwhelmingly diminishing returns.

Yes, Jesus Christ, The God of More, is at work in the lives of those outside the aquariums post-modern man has come to define and confine Him to. It is in the lives of divine nobodies like us, that the precious evidence of an undeserved, unearned grace, mercy and love, utterly incomprehensible, evidences itself each and everyday…Perhaps, for far too many, it’s the place where purpose-driven peters out. When the promises of evangelical Christianity are confronted with the realities of life, people become perplexed…”What have I done wrong? Maybe I’m an exception?” Petering out does not define an end point…it’s the beginning of a new opportunity to embrace a dimension of Christ we have heretofore overlooked…a place where we need help to see the breadth, depth and essence of THE God who cannot and will not be confined.

Our lives are an indication that maybe, just maybe, there’s more to the Christian life than what the “professionals” have led us to comprehend. Perhaps, it’s time for us to tell our stories.

Thanks for reading ours.

We hope it blesses you.

We look forward to your feedback. Send us your story.

Best,

Bill

NOTES

(1) Taylor, Daniel The Myth of Certainty – The Reflective Christian & The Risk of Commitment, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL Copyright © 1986, 1992 by Daniel Taylor, p. 26.

(2) Perkins, John M. Restoring At-Risk Communities – Doing It Together & Doing It Right, Baker Books Grand Rapids, Michigan © Copyright 1995 by John M. Perkins, p. 12

Say What?

“One of the moral diseases we communicate to one another in society comes from huddling together in the pale light of an insufficient answer to a question we are afraid to ask.” [i] Thomas Merton

NOTES

On Porpoise

Most Porpoise have a lifespan between 8 to 20 years. They can reach maturity around 7-12 years. Porpoise have it made. They never have to consider stuff like getting good grades in school, selecting a vocation or a field of study in higher education, finding a job or paying bills. On occasion, I have admired the beauty of the perceived simplicity of their lives.

I’ll never forget my daughter Nikki’s high school graduation several years ago. There were a few hundred students in her graduating class. As each student’s name was called, they stepped up to the microphone on the podium and shared what they intended to do after high school. Looking at the sea of graduation caps seated below me on the floor of the auditorium, I glanced at my watch and signed because missing the Yankees-Red Sox game was now a certainty. Preparing for an extended period of boredom, I took out a pen and made a chart, logging the responses of the students into rows and columns by college, trade school and occupation. Most of the students indicated they were going on to a specific college or trade school. Others said they were going to work for a year or two. Some had specific jobs they were going to begin.

A few days later, I reviewed my chart. There were 12 students who claimed they were going to be astronauts. Today, the population of the United States is said to be around three hundred million. According to NASA, there are 100 active astronauts who are qualified to be pilots, mission commanders and mission specialists.[i] The chances of those 12 students becoming astronauts, even one of them, is infinitesimal, to say the least.

There was another column on my list that seemed to stand out in stark contrast to the column that contained the 12 aspiring astronauts. There were three students who described in two words their immediate plans following graduation that really grabbed my heart. They said. “No clue.” (I’m sure their parents probably buried their heads in the graduation program, pretended to be asleep, or reached down to tie their shoes).

In April 2005, I read an interview with Rick Warren by CNN’s Paul Bradshaw, as recounted by Amit Bhatia.[ii] The content of this interview intrigued me. Warren was asked, What is the purpose of life? He responded, “In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity…This is the warm-up act, the dress rehearsal.” I thought to myself, “I wonder what those 12 students who aspired to be astronauts would think if they had been surrounded by folks all their lives who had been telling them “the purpose of this life can be contained in a nutshell? This life is a just a drill for something that is gonna go on forever. Exactly what that looks like, we can’t tell you. It’s gotta be better than this experience here on planet Earth. This life is just a dress-rehearsal, a warm-up act.” I questioned whether those 12 prospective space explorers would have even made it to graduation surrounded by well-intentioned folks espousing a worldview like that?

Later on that afternoon, I read something by authors Tony Campolo and Brian McLaren that seemed to challenge Warren’s position: “When we talk about Jesus, we must make it clear that he is not just interested in our well-being in the afterlife.” [iii] It appeared to me that there were some folks out there, just like me, who were pondering the possibility that maybe, just maybe, this life is more than a dress rehearsal. Perhaps the “purpose of life” (if there is solely one) is not intended to be reduced to the confines of a nutshell.

My thoughts wandered back to the three “no clue” students. I began to appreciate the guts it takes to stand up in front of an auditorium jammed with hundreds of strangers, your family and peers and say, “I don’t have a clue.” I wondered about the challenges ahead for the 12 driven astronaut candidates. Are they going to be able to have the flexibility to navigate through the storms of life, the riptides and currents we all face that weren’t on the charts. Maybe the “no clue” students had learned an important lesson that the aspiring space explorers had not. Perhaps the authenticity of “no clue” is symptomatic of one who possesses the fundamental flexibility and willingness to remain an inquisitive explorer at the age of seventeen, rather than boldly proclaim a certainty about becoming a member of an elite, celebrated occupation.

Maybe characterizing life as “purpose-driven” makes some folks feel comfortable. It might provide them with the sense of knowing something important and feeling safer within the predictability of those beliefs. Perhaps “Our world is populated with domesticated grown-ups who would rather settle for safe, predictable answers instead of wild, unpredictable mystery. Faith has been reduced to a comfortable system of beliefs about God instead of an uncomfortable encounter with God. Childlike faith understands that God is as capable of destroying us as he is of saving us. Risky curiosity breaks from the safety and comfort of a tame faith and ventures into the terrifying presence of a “not so tame” God.” [iv]

Maybe the “no clue” students are the one’s who are actually better prepared to live life on Porpoise. Is it possible that these are the students who will be the one’s who appreciate the unpredictable mystery of life, yearning for God to reveal more of Himself to them, diving beneath the surface of what we think we know about the meaning of this existence on Earth? Maybe, just maybe, this graduating class will include the risk takers who will live lives that express the simplicity and adventure of living a life of faith On Porpoise, as described in the following: “Being a Christian isn’t just believing in God and being good.  It involves a commitment to change the world.  Christians are expected to be part of a movement that will make the world that is, into the world that ought to be.”[v] Will it happen in my lifetime? I don’t have a clue. I sure hope so. I guess the phrase ought to be is important too.

NOTES

[ii] http://www.southasianconnection.com/blogs/18/Interview-with-Rick-Warren-by-Paul-Bradshaw.html

[iii] Campolo, Tony and McLaren Brian D.  Adventures in Missing The Point – How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered The Gospel, Zondervan Grand Rapids, Michigan © Copyright 2003 by Youth Specialties, p. 105.

[iv] Yaconelli, Michael Dangerous Wonder – The Adventure of Childlike Faith, NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO Copyright © 1998, 2003 by Michael Yaconelli, p.40.

[v] Campolo, Tony.  You Can Make A Difference-High Voltage Living in a Burned Out World, W Publishing Group Nashville, TN Copyright 1984 by Anthony Campolo, p. VIII.

Namesake

Halfway through the effort of researching and writing this book, I stumbled upon my namesake. A guy named William Dall is credited with discovering the Dall’s Porpoise. Yes, I certainly did experience a few moments when the hair stood up on the top of my head, startled by the strange coincidence of it all.

Bernie was a fourteen-year-old kid who lived in the neighborhood. Whether you actually know the Bernie I’m talking about or not doesn’t really matter. You’ve seen him. Most every neighborhood has one. He’s the kid who suffers from adolescent obesity. He’s loud, obnoxious, rude, sneaky and craves attention. He’s huge. He sweats profusely and wears XXXL tee shirts that are an attempt to disguise his girth. (Even the tee shirts he wears everyday characteristically have some detestable saying emblazoned across the chest). The Bernie’s of this world usually perform poorly in school, routinely avoid organized sports, always have pocket change and are vigilant about searching for and/or creating opportunities for fun.

Bernie was hanging out on the sidewalk with a group of his friends one hot summer night. A local gang-banger happened to drive by and stopped in front of them shouting, “Wanna go for a ride?” Of course, Bernie piled into the passengers seat. Less than two hours later, Bernie was being fingerprinted in the Santa Ana jail. He was charged with auto-theft, leaving the scene of an accident (they had side-swiped a parked vehicle) and gang affiliation. He was released on his own recognizance to his dad.

One of the neighborhood kids called our home and asked if I would come over to meet with Bernie and his dad because they couldn’t understand the paperwork they had been given. When they opened the front door to their one-bedroom apartment, the stench of urine hit me in the face. Lying on a foldout couch in the living room was an elderly woman hollering something in Spanish. They explained that this was Bernie’s grandma, his dad’s mother. She had a stroke several months earlier and was bedridden. Bernie’s mom and dad were divorced and were the only caregivers to grandma. Bernie’s father worked six days a week, twelve hours a day, at a car wash. Bernie had to come directly home from school everyday to feed and change his grandmother. I read and explained all the paperwork from the Police department to Bernie and his father (Bernie had to translate).

The next week, I happened to be walking down the hallway of the Orange County courthouse in Santa Ana, after attending a meeting with the Probation Officer of another student. I glanced to my right as I passed another corridor jam packed with people. I stopped as I recognized Bernie seated on a bench being handed a clipboard by a woman in a rumpled business suit. I walked up to the two of them and asked Bernie, “What’s going on.” He shrugged. The public defender asked me “who are you?” I lied (again). I told her I was Bernie’s youth pastor. She asked Bernie if she had his permission to speak to me about his case. He looked up and nodded his approval. The public defender explained that she had made a deal with the prosecuting attorney whereby Bernie would plead guilty, be sentenced to two years confinement in a juvenile detention facility and then be on two years probation, until his eighteenth birthday. She told me that this was the “best that I can do” and simply needed Bernie to “sign here” so she can move on to the next case.

“No deal!” I said. “I’ve known Bernie for several years. I know his family too. This young man has never been arrested previous to this incident. He has a bedridden grandmother he cares for 7 days a week. They have no medical insurance. His dad works six days a week. He is not a gang member and he has no mother or relatives in the immediate area.” I went on to explain that he is basically a good kid who made a very poor choice. Befuddled, the public defender said, “I’ll be right back.” She disappeared through a door into an adjacent courtroom, returning about ten minutes later with a tall white guy. “Are you Mr. Dahl?” he asked. “Yes I am,” I said. “Are you Bernie’s youth pastor?” (Needless to say, I lied again for the second time in eleven minutes). “Let’s talk over here,” he said. We walked ten steps down the corridor where I recounted for him what I had told the public defender. They amended the sentence and Bernie was fitted with a home detention ankle bracelet for 30 days, two years probation and one hundred hours of community service. Instead of spending the night in the juvenile detention facility (and the next seven hundred twenty nine nights thereafter), he went home to feed his grandma, change her bedding and her clothes.

Was it a coincidence that I was walking down the hall of the courthouse and spotted Bernie, bewildered, sitting on a bench with a woman who was attempting to sell him the best deal she could come up with on his behalf? I don’t know. For many reading this story, they’ll be appalled that I admittedly lied on two separate occasions. They’re right. I’m not advocating lying. I repent. However, over the years, I have become increasingly convinced that “It is difficult for a Christian to walk through the mud without getting dirty.” [i]

I wonder what my namesake William Dall would think? I wouldn’t be surprised if he spent countless days away from his family studying Dall’s Porpoise. Maybe, Dall’s passionate pursuit of learning and understanding drove him to a new appreciation of God, people and the environment. I hope Dall marveled at these Porpoise as if they were God’s creation, the same God that created the seas he explored and the One that created him. Every once in a while, I’ll bet that Dall had a thought about children like Bernie, who would have the opportunity to learn about Porpoise in school. Perhaps the following is what my namesake and I have in common: “Too often, we’re taught to ignore or excuse the pain inflicted on the distant and not-so-distant children of others.  To be sure, we’ll always listen most attentively to our own children’s cries.  But if we don’t heed the cries of others’ as well, America will be lost, and we’ll risk losing our souls.”[ii]

NOTES

[ii] Rogat Loeb, Paul.  Soul of a Citizen-Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time, St. Martin’s Griffin, NY Copyright 1999 by Paul Rogat Loeb, p. 184.

Feet first

Porpoise calves are born tail first from the safety of their mother’s womb into a frigid, unfamiliar environment. They surface immediately to breathe.” [i]

Serena showed up on the front porch of our home one night. She was living with her sister and brother-in-law in the area and had been attending a local church. Things weren’t working out very well at all for Serena. She didn’t fit in with the squared away folks at her church. She was driving her sister’s husband nuts. Their marriage was starting to suffer because of Serena’s dysfunction (Yeah, right…like these people had it all together before Serena ever began living with them). Out of desperation, Serena’s sister began calling around in an attempt to identify a group of Christians that Serena might fit in with. She found us.

Serena had been in a near fatal car crash several years earlier. The accident left her with a permanent neurological impairment. She suffered from what is now referred to as a head trauma. This condition caused certain emotional imbalances to cope with as part of a cognitive deficiency. She was prone to anxiety attacks, memory deficiency, grossly misinterpreting communication from others, and the inability to exercise logic and common sense. Over a period of several years, Serena had exhausted a few dozen psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, social workers and vocational rehabilitation professionals. She had huge trust issues. After the accident, a caregiver raped her. Friends from her church group borrowed from her. Truth be told, they stole Serena’s insurance settlement funds that were intended to provide for her ongoing medical care. She had a new job as a maid in a senior convalescent center. She was terrified about the prospect of failing in the eyes of her employer.

Serena’s impairments had the capacity to dominate a gathering of people with the sheer depth of her wounds. The various reactions of people to Serena always befuddled me. Some people would be immediately drawn into her brokenness, authentically empathizing with her. Others would just stare at the ground; silently wishing “I wish she would shut up and leave!” Still others would take a more spiritual approach. These people were the one’s who had met Serena typically for the first or second time in our fellowship group. They were absolutely convinced that Serena’s difficulties were wholly due to the fact that her beliefs about God were in some way deficient. After our gathering ended, these well-intentioned folks would open their Bible’s and spend the next hour going through an itemized list of tenets of faith that Serena would eagerly acknowledge. They would pray with her and leave. Typically, they wouldn’t return. After witnessing a few of these scenes, my wife and I decided to run interference for Serena, when another well-intentioned approach was obviously forming for her benefit. Jacki and I would head off the folks who were obviously about to pounce upon Serena and take her to the side to have her say the sinner’s prayer again, insuring her position in God’s family and verifying whether or not Serena’s beliefs and faith were sufficient to return her to health.

The purveyors of the biblical worldview have based its valuation on the gold standard that you must believe before you belong. You must buy into a certain number of component beliefs before you are really one of us. If you actually possess a nickels worth of these beliefs and claim to be a dime like the rest of us, you’re five pennies short of where you need to be. That’s the way Serena was treated by far too many Christians.

We’ve even developed some nice names for folks whose lives don’t seem to match up with the promises of a biblical worldview like notional, nominal, deficient, church hopping commie, seeker or just plain lost. If you don’t verbalize that you buy into all of the life changing tenets of faith that make up the biblical worldview, well, They’ll pray for you. Maybe you’ve memorized the ideas that comprise a biblical worldview. Well, more bad news, as Donald Miller says, “I don’t think memorizing ideas helps anybody understand the meaning inferred in the expression of those ideas. I think ideas have to sink very deeply into a person’s soul, into their being, before they can effect change, and lists rarely sink deeply into a person’s soul.”[ii] Then again, what do you do with folks like Serena who have a neurological deficit that has impaired their ability to remember much of anything?

Serena’s story taught me, my wife and a whole host of others some very important lessons. One of which is, “Sometimes belonging must precede believing.”[iii] Have you ever walked into a gathering of Christians and get that eerie feeling from one of the first people you meet? You can literally hear their mind asking that infamous question, “I wonder if he/she is one of us…if they believe the right stuff?” Man, I sure have. I know I’m not alone. It’s akin to greeting someone aloud by saying, “Hi! Clearly, your beliefs are deficient in some way you don’t quite understand yet. Don’t worry, we’re here to fix you!”

Perhaps it’s time to move toward a new way of living whose value is a more authentic reflection of Christ to the world that says, “what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do.”[iv] However, why we do some of the things we do to wounded people in the name of Christ is, for me, despicable. Why some of God’s creations are born head first, feet first, hatched or otherwise, I don’t pretend to understand. I do know this; He adores the wounded child just as much as the healthy one. It is a responsibility and privilege in this life to invite, embrace and experience the gift of the wounded among us. Perhaps we must move toward a deeper appreciation for what it means to become people equipped to live compassionately, as stated in the following: “Just as courage takes its stand by others in challenging situations, so compassion takes its stand with others in their distress. Compassion is a virtue that takes seriously the reality of other persons, their inner lives, their emotions, as well as their external circumstances. It is an active disposition toward fellowship and sharing, toward supportive companionship in distress or in woe.”[v] The people you might think were born feet first just might be the greatest teachers of the Gospel you have ever met. Just swim with em. Christianity in the postmodern world just may have it backward. Instead of diving in head first, maybe we need to wade into life of faith feet first. Perhaps we are the head-injured. Not Serena.

NOTES

[ii] Miller, Donald Searching For God Knows What, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville, TN, Copyright 2004 by Donald Miller, p. 57.

[iii] McLaren, Brian D. More Ready Than You Realize – Evangelism As a Dance in the Postmodern Matrix, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. © Copyright 2002 by Brian D. McLaren p. 84.

[iv] Miller, Donald, Blue Like Jazz – Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville, TN, © Copyright 2003 by Donald Miller, p. 110 & 111

[v] Bennett, William J., The Book of Virtues – A Treasury of Great Moral Stories, SIMON & SCHUSTER, New York, NY © 1993 by William J. Bennett, p. 107.

Herring

It has been suggested that Porpoise on the surface can detect a school of herring 330 feet (100m) below.[i] I can’t hear most stuff that occurs a hundred feet from me. My wife hollers at me because I have a tendency to tune out the sounds around me (including the sound of her voice on occasion). She says I am equipped with the sixth sense of herring; the ability to ignore the sounds of life that occur in my midst, while fully engaged with something that nobody else can hear.

We decided to invite an international exchange student into our family for the year. Our foster son Ramon is fifteen. We discussed this opportunity with him and he was all for it. Ramon had only one request; the student we chose would have to enjoy soccer like he does.

As we went through the process of evaluating the available exchange students for the upcoming school year, one student continued to stand out. He was born in Russia. His parents were raised in Afghanistan and attended a university in Moscow. They returned to Afghanistan after college. The family decided to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban first came to power. They relocated to Frankfurt, Germany where they live today. Mom is a medical doctor and dad is in the computer business. The prospective student performed well academically in Germany. He loves soccer and is one year older than Ramon. (They could go to the same high school here together). There was only one problem; his name is Muhammad and he’s a Muslim.

Muhammad was easy to spot as he strolled from the plane to the terminal. He was tall, slender, black hair, with a bronzed complexion. His dress was clearly young, urban western-European (distinctly not central Oregon). As he got closer to the terminal, he raised his eyes from the ground and I could see it, fear. He was forty yards from my wife and I (standing inside at baggage claim), strolling toward the terminal when my herring clicked on. I seemed to be able to hear his thoughts, “MY god! What have I got myself into? This place doesn’t look anything like Frankfurt! Did I get on the wrong plane? Where did all these white people come from? I wonder if there are people of diverse ethnicity in this town? Look! Is that an actual human being with one of those cowboy hats on? I thought they only wore those in the movies. I hope the host family I’m supposed to stay with for the school year is cool. What if they’re not?”

After exchanging our initial greetings we grabbed Muhammad’s luggage and drove directly to the high school soccer field where Ramon was practicing with his friends. Practice had just ended and the JV and varsity teams were assembled near the bleachers. Ramon spotted Muhammad and ran up to him with a big smile saying “Muhammad, I’m Ramon. Welcome to Oregon! Come on and meet the guys.” Muhammad followed Ramon into the sea of players, coaches and parents. During the next ten minutes, Jacki and I witnessed an amazing sight. Everybody assembled in the area made a point to introduce themselves to Muhammad and enthusiastically welcome him to town. Relief, surprise, delight and a smile had replaced the trepidation Muhammad arrived with at the airport.

During the next several weeks, we got to know one another. This occurred by simply living life together. Muhammad became comfortable initiating conversations with me during the evenings after dinner. We shared stories about our lives. Muhammad told me stories about his preparation to come to the U.S. He was instructed very clearly not to discuss his faith with others in the U.S. We discussed 9/11 and the way our respective faiths have been hijacked by extremists. Muhammad told me that my wife and I did not behave anything like the U.S. Christians portrayed by the media. We enjoyed some great belly-laughs as we explored the misconceptions together. He shared stories with us about his Muslim friends in Germany who wanted to enjoy an international exchange year in the U.S. The students and their parents decided not to choose this opportunity because they didn’t believe the U.S. was a safe place for a Muslim. I told him it was very important to us for Muhammad to be himself in our home, our city and our country. He was relieved and delighted.

A few weeks later, my wife told me that Muhammad wanted to go to church with us. I asked whether she had invited him, had discussed this with him or had encouraged him in any way. She had not. Muhammad looks forward to going to church every week with us…on his own. During church, he sings, prays, and listens. We never encouraged it, don’t initiate discussions of it and aren’t the type of folks who intentionally evangelize others. We allow Him to speak through our lives.

As we were driving home from church one day, Muhammad asked, “Bill, what is desperate?” (It’s a word in a song we had sung in church). I explained that desperate is something that someone deeply desires and must have. Muhammad had been listening. He was demonstrating a very important lesson for me, as characterized in the following; “Before anything else, a person of faith is a person who listens. We listen to the voices of people we trust, the teachings of those we admire, and the collective wisdom of revered traditions. But primarily, we listen within. “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). When we are still, and quiet, and trusting, we discover what we seek to be faithful to “speaks” in us.” [ii] Muhammad was herring.

If you’re one of those who have been wounded by the religion business, you’re not alone. If the thought of organized religion makes you nauseous, you’re not unique. If you’re tired of being the target of organized attempts to evangelize others, Muhammad is with you. Perhaps we should be still, and allow our herring to absorb the meaning in the following: “Our critics do us a great service by pointing out our deficiencies. We should take their advice and get out of the religion business. Jesus understood the religion business and He had nothing good to say about it.” [iii]

The Porpoise know those herring are there without seeing them. Just because you can’t see Him, has nothing to do with the reality of His presence. Contemplate the following as an invitation to rediscover your gift of herring God: “If it can answer when you call, then it can speak without your asking. If you can go to it, it can come to you.” [iv]

NOTES

[ii] Stella, Tom The God Instinct – Heeding Your Heart’s Unrest, SORIN BOOKS Notre Dame, Indiana Copyright © 2001 by Thomas A. Stella pp. 54-55.

[iii] Henderson, Jim a.k.a. “LOST” – Discovering Ways To Connect With The People Jesus Misses Most,” Waterbrook Press Colorado Springs, CO. Copyright © 2005 by James K. Henderson, pp. 81-82.

[iv] Lewis, C.S. The Timeless Writings of C.S. Lewis, Family Christian Press & Wm B. Erdman’s Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mi. Inspirational Press Edition, A Division of BBS Publishing Corp. © 2004 p.110

Echoes

Porpoises generate sounds over a wide series of frequencies. The vast majority of these sounds are well above the boundary of human hearing. Scientists call the noises they make clicks. The process is referred to as echolocation. [i]

My wife and I have been fortunate enough to travel to many different countries on this planet. We prefer to explore countries where language barriers exist for us. My preference has been to surprise my wife with the destination. I have been known to call her employer and schedule her vacation without her knowing. On these occasions, I typically let her know when she comes home from her final day at work that “you are officially on vacation and should probably pack.” Although it has been a few years since I have done this, the echoes of her awe and joy continue to ricochet through my soul.

On one of these adventures, we flew from Seattle to Hong Kong, changed planes, then on to Bangkok. After clearing customs and trekking to our hotel in the middle of the night, I renewed my lifelong appreciation for a soft, horizontal bed. I love waking up in foreign lands. Just after daylight, I was on my way out the front door of the hotel lobby. The smells, noises, sights, motion and sounds of Bangkok in the morning slapped me in the face. As this was my first visit to Thailand, I was invigorated by the refreshing sense of the distinct strangeness of the culture. After enjoying a few days in Bangkok we packed up for our trip to Phuket, Thailand where we would spend the next five days.

We had a blast in Phuket.  We swam, dined, hiked and rode tandem on a motor scooter all over the island. On our fourth day there, Jacki became ill. I stayed with her in our hotel room all day watching television, writing and reading a book. As the sun began to set, Jacki urged me to “Get out of here! Grab a cab and go explore for a while.” I reluctantly agreed.

The cab driver suggested a place called Patong Beach where I could have an inexpensive dinner and watch the sunset. By the time we arrived it was dark. After dinner, I decided to walk the streets of Patong. The streets were jammed with tourists from around the globe. I began listening for the different languages being spoken. I heard Italian, German, Czech, Spanish, Persian and French.

After walking three or four blocks inland from the beach, the voices, lights and sounds of the crowd began to fade. I looked up to enjoy the stars shimmering joyously in the heavens.  As I stood there I heard, “Hey Mister!” It was the first English I had heard in several days. I looked around to see a Thai woman standing in the shadow of a doorway of what appeared to be a rundown, two-story hotel. As I peered through the darkness, I thought I heard her say something that included the word help, as she motioned with her hand to come over to her location. When I was about six feet from her she broke out into a big smile and said, “Oh, American. Thank you. We like American.” She grabbed my hand and led me inside the doorway and turned right into a dimly lit living room. “You like?” she asked.

Something supernatural clicked in my soul during that moment. Don’t kid yourself. There’s evil in the world. It’s alive and well. It inhabits human beings. It’s not tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes and other destructive forces of nature that should grab our attention regarding the living, breathing reality of evil. You don’t have to travel to Thailand to figure that out.

Admittedly, I am disgusted with most discussions in American churches about mission trips to other, underdeveloped nations. The vast majority of these trips are vacations for U.S. Christians. The resultant smugness, veiled self-righteousness, and stories about the plight of others, oftentimes provide us with a defective sense of gratitude. The phrase, “We’re so fortunate you know” is the most common remark I hear from those who return. As one author challenges us, “We can’t keep comparing our best with their worst and feeling smug.” [ii] There’s nothing wrong with feeling grateful, as long as that gratitude does not lead to a sense of indifference. As another author notes, “And the indifference of the church and Christians is the hole in the fence that allows evil to crawl through unencumbered.” [iii]

I’m convinced that authentic Christians, the one’s who have blessed my life, are equipped with the ability to echolocate, just like the Porpoise. They seem to be able to communicate God’s heart and wisdom with their person, their everyday life, without speaking a word. Sometimes as I read the Bible, I catch myself thinking that I am reading history or listening to an echo that continues to ricochet through the corridors of time. I begin to yearn to be in those days, to have had the opportunity to walk with Jesus, visible and in- person. I begin to think that living a Christian life must have been so much easier for those who physically walked in His presence. Then, I’m reminded of the reality: “Jesus was right there for them to hear and watch. For the rest of us, we have to learn how to see the invisible and hear the inaudible.” [iv]

As I ran down the street away from that hotel with filled with enslaved child prostitutes, I heard the struggle in my heart screaming, “You should go back and do something! Maybe tomorrow or the next time I’m here. What can I do anyway?” At one point, I almost stopped and went back. That was twenty-five years ago. I haven’t been back. The echo of this memory was resuscitated recently by the words of my friend Jeff Jacobson, when he wrote, “It’s right there in the I almost stopped and the maybe next times; right there when our hearts jump and our spirits lunge, but we hide them and shush them back away — right there He is and right there is where we need to be, spilling over and breaking free from the paralysis that glues our collective asses to the seats of apathy.” [v]

Does this click with you?

NOTES

[ii] McLaren, Brian D. The Church on the Other Side – Doing Ministry In The Post-Modern Matrix, Zondervan Grand Rapids, MI. Copyright © 1998,2000 by Brian D. McLaren, p. 81.

[iii] Burchett, Dave.  When Bad Christians Happen to Good People, WaterBooks Press Colorado Springs, CO  Copyright 2002 by Dave Burchett, p. 122.

[iv] McManus, Erwin Raphael The Barbarian Way- Unleash The Untamed Faith Within, Nelson Books, A Division of Thomas Nelson Publishers Copyright © 2005 by Erwin Rafael McManus, p. 63.

[v] Jacobson, Jeff So I Go Now- Following After The Jesus of Our Day, Trafford Publishing, Victoria BC Canada, Copyright © 2006 by Jeff Jacobson, p.109.

Restraint

While I was Porpoise watching one day, it dawned on me that they’re confined to this huge, salty, bathtub. Yet, we humans are limited as well. We can’t swim like Porpoises, fly like birds, or float in the heavens like the stars.

Years ago, I had the privilege to work with a young man named Bruce. He was a field auditor for a division of a Fortune 500 company we both worked for. He was smart, full of energy and ambition. He was honest and dependable. His job was to complete monthly audits of business inventories we financed across several states. People adored this young man. His work was impeccable and his future was bright.

I had the opportunity to travel with Bruce one day to a meeting. We were late. He was speeding down the freeway. I also noticed that he was not wearing his seatbelt. When we returned to the office I asked Bruce to come in and speak with me for a few minutes. I told him how much I appreciated the quality of the work he did for our company. I shared how much his co-workers and our customers respected him. Bruce began to float. At this point, I looked him directly in the eyes and told him how essential it was to wear his seat belt each and every moment he was in his company car. He squirmed and acknowledged the wisdom of my comment and agreed to comply.

Some six weeks later, Bruce was dead. I had just returned home one Friday evening, having survived another grueling workweek. The phone rang. It was my Operations Manager. The Oregon State Police had called and said our company car had been involved in a fatal traffic accident near Salem, OR. They had identified Bruce as the sole fatality. There had been three cars and one semi-truck trailer involved in the incident. Bruce was the only occupant in any of the vehicles involved who was not wearing his seat belt.

The next day, I met with Bruce’s mother. Bruce was her only child. Her husband had died several years earlier. She was now completely alone, save for a few friends and acquaintances. Bruce’s mom was awash in unbridled grief, blubbering and crying from the depths of her soul. It was difficult to discern what she was saying. I just sat there, listening to her, staring into her broken heart through the window of her tear-filled eyes.

When I got up to get a glass of water in the kitchen, one of her friends tapped me on the shoulder and motioned to an adjacent room. “I hear you’re a man of faith,” she said. “Yes ma’am,” I replied.  “Well, do you believe in a loving God?” she asked. “Yes, ma’am, I do.”  “Do you believe in a powerful God Who’s alive today and able to intervene in this life?” I nodded in the affirmative, looking into fifty-plus year old eyes about to explode amidst the chaos of overwhelming tragedy. “Well so did I,” she said. “Until about 7:00PM last night! Now what the hell do I do?” Her head crumbled into my chest as she burst into a tirade of uncontrollable weeping. I held her in my arms and seated us on the edge of a bed. We wept together.

As I reflect upon this moment in my life, I recall my mind racing to come up with a suitable explanation for this woman. I couldn’t come up with one. I just sat there weeping with her, holding onto one another. Years later, the words of Tony Campolo capture the essence of the despair tragedies like these spring upon our souls: “In the midst of our disappointments with God, we try to come up with rationalizations that will make God look good, even in the face of tragedies that we believe God could have prevented. Sometimes we try to put a good spin on our disappointments by saying that what we wanted wasn’t God’s will. But deep down inside, we are likely to wonder why a God of love whom we believe has the power to make things right didn’t act to do so.”[i]

Power and love: These are the two belts that seem to weave their way through the history of people of faith. We pray that God has the power to spare us from the tragedies that impact the lives of others. When these tragedies strike us, or those close to us, we begin to question that power. We begin to question whether we had the right kind or amount of faith. When the belt of God’s power seems to snap, we begin to contemplate the belt of love. “How could a loving God allow such a thing to occur?” When the belt of God’s love comes unbuckled, we become victims of an even more tragic illusion; that He’s not really here…He doesn’t really care.

It was in the unanticipated embrace of this weeping woman I had never met, that I confronted an unwelcome truth: “Before you can find God in the answers, you have to find him in the questions.”[ii] The Christian life is a gut-wrencher at times. It requires one to live through the questions, wade through unfathomable, and work it out. It’s not a bowl of applesauce. It’s life with God, yourself and others. Real life. As one author points out, “The trouble with working things out is that you have to start to practice what you preach. Intellectual journeys don’t lead to a rest house.”[iii] Neither do spiritual journeys.

I’ve heard people suggest to new Christians, “you’re in for the ride of your life.” What they’re actually referring to is that they have some sort of supernatural protection surrounding them that will quickly transform their lives into something vastly better than the realities of life they may have encountered without it. When I meet these folks a few years later, they unequivocally share one thing with me: “My experience of the Christian life wasn’t anything like what they told me it was going to be at the beginning of my journey. I guess it wasn’t meant to be for me.”

This is where Christians need to exercise more restraint. Perhaps we should be sharing the truth with people: “There’s going to be potholes in the road. You’ll feel lost and alone on more than a few occasions. There will be U-turns, slippery surfaces and dead-ends. You might even want to trade-in your life for somebody else’s. Don’t get disillusioned, that’s life. Jesus is right beside you no matter what you encounter along the way. Buckle up!”

NOTES

[ii] McManus, Erwin Raphael Soul Cravings-An Exploration of the Human Spirit, Nelson Books, a Division of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright © 2006, p. Meaning – Entry 7.

[iii] Handy, Charles Beyond Certainty – The Changing Worlds of Organizations, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA Copyright © 1996 by Charles Handy, pp. 21-22.