Lenten Devotion 1 - What are we Giving Up?

On this second day of Lent, we continue our centering, prayer and devotion.  Many have chosen to give something up for the next forty days until the rise of Eastertide.  Choosing to give something up has long been a way of showing special devotion or respect to our Beloved, or of re-aligning ourselves with Christ's purpose here on the earth.

I recall one year while I was in college that I gave up worrying for Lent.  This took a great deal of energy at first, demanding a large portion of my attention and resolve.  I worked very hard to let go of my need to control the various aspects of my life.  

My marriage, my studies, my work, my ministry, my future, my health, my family -- all of these things were often on my mind swirling in a jumbled mess of worry, chaos or despair.  Each one had to be intentionally released into the arms of One who Loves.  It was sometimes a moment-by-moment act of trust and letting go.

This was incredibly difficult at first.  Somehow in my daily living my mental hands had become like the rubbery tentacles of a giant octopus, tightly wound around each particular detail of my life, then suctioned on with super glue.  I wasn't prepared for the pain in the process that came in the beginning as each individual suction cup was pried away from its treasured possession.  The act could be likened to the detailed work of getting a sweet kitty's claws unstuck from a dearly loved crocheted blanket.  Each fiber in the yarn and each individual claw has to be handled carefully so that the blanket and the kitty both remain in tact.

Photo by TheoZomB

As unprepared as I was for the difficulty of this fast in the beginning, I also was not nearly prepared for how much it would become second nature by the end of the Lenten journey.  I did not realize how much my prayer life would shift after that Lenten fast from worry.  Years later, this devotion still has an impact on my life.

So, when I read today that Pope Francis has a different sort of fast in mind for devoted followers of Christ across the globe, I paid attention.  I have often been finding myself struck by this leader's wisdom and grace.  Today is no different.  Followers of Christ are encouraged to give up indifference for Lent -- to use this time to connect with the pain and suffering of the world.  If you read my Ash Wednesday post, you will see how closely aligned he and I are in this perspective.  I greatly appreciate the way Christopher Hale of Time writes of Pope Francis' invitation:

"...when we fast from this indifference, we can began to feast on love. In fact, Lent is the perfect time to learn how to love again. Jesus—the great protagonist of this holy season—certainly showed us the way. In him, God descends all the way down to bring everyone up. In his life and his ministry, no one is excluded."

Fasting opens us up for feasting.  Lent is the perfect time to learn how to love again.  Truly, it is a time to remember who we are.

So, dear ones, what are you giving up for Lent?  Or what are you taking on?  No matter what it is, my prayer is that our Lenten devotions may bring us closer to our Creator, closer to one another and closer to the whole of creation.  May this be a time of letting go of our old ways of being; may it be a time of remembering who we are.

What's in our Eyes?

I've been writing more often in my prayer blog lately than on here, but today's awful events bring me back into the realm of violence, theology and questions.  I posted in the prayer blog about a shooting that happened in the nearby Clackamas Town Center earlier this week.  Now, only a few days later we hear about a terrible tragedy in Connecticut.

Images, sound clips and heart-breaking accounts of today's events leave us feeling numb and hopeless.  A steady stream of political posturing and religious rants have been flooding my Facebook news feed all day.  It is sad how quickly we can manipulate a tragedy into a tool for our own agendas.  We have violence towards one another in our eyes.

We have a hard time simply sighing as a nation and grieving together.  We are immediately looking for someone or something to blame.  (Yes, I include myself in this.  I said, "we".  Although I refrained from posting throughout the day, my mind went all over, too...)  We have destruction in our eyes.

Tonight, though, as the reactions begin to simmer down and the soul searching begins, I am reminded that perfect love casts out fear.

In the Day of Trouble: A Psalm for Zombies

While reading the office for this evening at DailyOffice.org I found myself highly intrigued by Psalm 27.

Imagine yourself surrounded by a hoard of walkers or zombies and clinging to life by a hair's breath.



Smell the stench of rotting flesh.  Hear the moans of hungry foes.  See the flickering candle, your only source of light in the deep night.  Taste the salty sweat dripping down your face from your brow line.  And then read the psalm below...

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear? *
the LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?

When evildoers came upon me
to eat up my flesh, *
it was they, my foes and my adversaries,
who stumbled and fell.
Though an army should encamp against me, *
yet my heart shall not be afraid;
And though war should rise up against me, *
yet will I put my trust in him.

One thing have I asked of the LORD;
one thing I seek; *
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life;
To behold the fair beauty of the LORD *
and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble
he shall keep me safe in his shelter; *
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.

Even now he lifts up my head *
above my enemies round about me.
Therefore I will offer in his dwelling
an oblation with sounds of great gladness; *
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

Can you imagine, dear ones, what it must have been like for the psalmist?  When they composed this song of love and trust they must have been in the midst of a terrible war!  Yet even in the midst of crisis, they raise this song of praise knowing that God is truly the One who will deliver them.

Are we, in the midst of our daily struggles, able to offer such praises?  Can we sing songs of trust and love while we are surrounded by terrors of the night?  I desire with all of my heart to say yes.  I want to stretch my hands up in the air and trust that God will deliver me from the pains and struggles of this life.

Let's pray, dear ones, that we might experience the uplifting of our minds so that we, too, can sing with joy in the midst of the trial.  Let us run to the holy places where the Spirit of God is magnified, so we might feast on our Maker rather than one another.  Let us gather in the sanctuaries and be renewed by the Living God who enters into our midst and brings peace to us - body, mind and soul. 

Let us sing and make music before the Lord.  And then, dear ones, let us go into the hoard and do our best to offer the antidote of Christ to our zombie brethren, for we all know what it is like to have a hunger for flesh.  But we know the One who can fully satisfy this hunger and bring us (and all to whom we minister) peace and life to the fullest measure.

Graduation!!!

Yesterday, June 2nd 2012, I graduated from Fuller Seminary Northwest.  It was a fantastic day - the culmination of seminary studies, and a day I've looked forward to since I was six years old!  The good Lord, our Beloved Creator, knows what's next.  As of yet, I've only been given some inklings and ideas.  The whole picture has yet to be revealed.  For now, I am simply thankful for this day of celebration and this giant accomplishment! 

All praise to You, Lord Most High, who called me into seminary and have flowed through the teachings there, through my work as a nanny, through my relationship with my husband and with Your communities of faith, to help me grow in knowledge, love and compassion!  Wherever You lead I will go!  Whatever You call me to, I will do!  Thank You, Beloved, for Your presence and guidance!  And now, thank You, Lord, for rest and recuperation.  Amen.

Dear ones, today, my head is fuzzy and my body is tired.  Having not slept well out of excitement the night prior to graduation, and then again last night due to processing the whole event, today I feel a bit zombie-esque and have not changed out of my pajamas.  It is a true Sabbath day for me! 

Well, dear ones, this is a short post today.  Since I am receiving my Master's of Arts in Theology and Ministry, I'm considering adopting the title "Zombie Master of the Theological and Ministerial Arts".  What do you think?

Mortal Combat

No, I'm not talking about the video game; (otherwise I'd have spelled combat with a K) instead, I'm talking about combat in the mortal, or physical, realm.  My husband and I just finished watching The Fighter.  In this movie, a boxer overcomes some intense personal and professional struggles in order to attain the world welterweight title in the 1980s.

Photo by Trista Wynne

I have to say that I have an incredible respect for hand-to-hand combat.  One of the sad trends in zombie movies and books is an intense focus on combat from a distance.  You want to keep the enemy away from you and kill them before you can even recognize their (former) humanity.  As my husband and I slowly work our way through The Walking Dead, (I was attending class when it was on, so we recorded it to watch during summer break) I am delighted to see that zombies are treated humanely. 

A Grateful Zombie

Tonight's post comes from my evening prayer journal.

*****

Hello, Beloved!

Photo by Trista Wynne

Thank You for this beautiful day!  What a blessing it is to inhale the coconut scent of the sunscreen slathered on my skin!  What a delight to dance in the sunshine and read in the courtyard!  How wonderful to receive the sunshine vitamin without the hassle of supplements.

I loved the way my body felt after the long hill-filled walk this afternoon through the city!  Thank You for the gift of mobility.  I certainly appreciate the valuable resources of a healthy body!

A Simple Zombie Credo

The following was just posted in response to a comment on ZombieTheology.  I invite you to read the post here, and then to continue reading this one.

**********

Dear Sonny ~

You said,

“Zombie Theology isn’t about finding cool walking dead references in the Scriptures (we’ll have fun with some of that, who can resist?), it’s about the disease. How it’s contracted,how it’s spread from host to host. How they can be stopped (got to shoot them in the Soul, their head) and the most important question of all, how do we cure ourselves once we are bitten by the overwhelming Zombie Army?”

Here, dear one, is the gospel: we don’t have the cure. God does. The cure came in the form of Jesus Christ and is being distributed by the Holy Spirit breathed into the world as Jesus breathed His last. Jesus came to resurrect our imaginations, to give our brain-dead appetites something other than each other to gnaw on. One day, all of creation and all of humanity will remember the goodness and freedom it was crafted with. We look forward to that day.

You are right when you say that many Christians are acting in ways that resemble zombies. We are part of a world that is infected with the virus, (or the toxin, or the radiation, whatever imagery we find in zombie literature can be applied). We’re born into it, we’re raised by infected beings, and we’re exposed to it every day. The zombie infection is everywhere. It’s what gives all humans (and other animals, for that matter) a tendency towards violence, self-preservation, destruction of others and other behaviors that are not conducive to societal uplifting.

Touch a New Perspective

I love music!  I have since I was a little girl.  Singing along to my parent's LPs of the Beach Boys or Peter, Paul & Mary, my ears and vocal chords have been trained to pick out harmonies, to match cadence and to blend well with others from a very young age. 

Since I have graduated from college, I have added a few instruments to my musical endeavors.  You may have seen the photo of my hand drumming in an earlier post, or a photo of my sweet twelve-string which I have used to lead worship for two and a half years.  Despite my love for music, walking in to an instrument store used to depress me.

Oh I loved the instruments and the shine and the sounds, but I was always held back by something.  I couldn't see myself playing these great works of craftsmanship.  As far as I was concerned, the precious instruments were always  meant for somebody else, someone who had more time, more talent, more money to spend.  I would never even look at the instruments that were at eye level, only those close to the floor or on the clearance rack.  That's what I allowed myself to touch.

Zombie Women Unite!

"Zombie Women Drum!"
Photo by Matt Wynne

The Fremont Solstice Festival is an expression of joy and freedom birthed out of a love for the arts.  My husband and I very much enjoy the culture and atmosphere in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.  (Perhaps one day we'll live there; for now we simply visit when we can.)  Today Matt and I participated in the Solstice Parade, which inaugurates the beautiful days of summer.  It is our third year of drumming for Delilah's bellydancers, and we love it!  My body, mind and spirit are consistently rejuvinated through my interactions with the women who dance as well as the men and women who drum for them.

Likewise, when I attend a local women's drum circle each month, I almost always come away feeling unburdened.  I stand taller, breathe more easily, think more clearly and love more fully as a result.  These gatherings allow a fullness of self-expression, creative energy and a whole-bodied seeking after a Source beyond ourselves.  To be honest, it has been a while since I've experienced a similar feeling in a corporate worship gathering.  I look for it, and the search will go on, but I suspect that the kind of gathering I am looking for is more like a large family than a corporate gathering in a distant building.

Attacking our own Reflections

It's crazy, isn't it?  This bird is endlessly attacking its own reflection in the window.  No matter how many times it slams its beak against the glass, it will not remove the perceived threat.  It is only weakening itself, and potentially depriving its young of their parent.  The next generation may not have life because this generation is exhausting itself in futile attempts to protect itself.

My Icon

Greetings, fellow zombie theologians!

I'm delighted to share an icon design with you for this site.  If you have read the first couple of posts here, you know that I am an artist as well as a student of theology and a zombie lover.  My second post, Working on the Art, linked to a beautiful tattoo design that I located on the web.  A bit of my theological observations regarding the bio hazard sign can be found in that post.  Building on that, I was inspired to craft my own icon.  You can find it below:

Theological Zomnbie Student Icon - Acrylic on Paper - Art by Trista L. Wynne - 5 June 2011

Living in a Zombie World

As part of my seminary instruction and preparation for ministry, one of our required classes at Fuller Northwest is Homiletics.  In this preaching course, we are given the opportunity to preach for one another and to hear future pastors in action.  For my second sermon, I chose a passage from Paul's letter to the Ephesians in which he is reminding that fledgling congregation that because they know the hope that is found in Christ Jesus, they are called to act in ways that are different from the dark, tumultuous world around them. 

Hearts & Brains (Faith & Reason)

In an excerpt entitled Physician, Heal Thyself from an upcoming book, Dan Allen (zombietheology.com) shows the dangers that come from the faith healing sect of Christ-followers. I am torn as to how I respond to this. On the one hand, he's absolutely right. Many of our brothers and sisters have left the Church or faith altogether on account of the branches of our brethren who rely solely on heart/faith. On the other hand, I, like our brothers and sisters who are drawn to such teachings, wish that it was that easy.