Pomomusings

5K Race Completed & 6 Weeks Until Half Marathon

Adam — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:28:51 +0000

Today I ran the Diablo Trails Challenge 5K put on by Brazen Racing. They did a really great job with everything related to the race. This was my first race and I had a lot of fun. It was a mountain trail run which was very different from my training (which has been on all flat paved trails) – and we even had 4 creeks that we had to cross (each creek took about 4 long strides to get across). Aside from the fact that there were some 4-5 middle school kids who beat me, it was a great race.

According to the official results, my time was 27:56. I was 4th (out of 9) in the Men’s 25-29 age bracket and 21st (out of 65) in the Overall Men’s bracket.

It’s been six weeks since I started training for the American River Parkway Half Marathon, and that means that the race is just six weeks away. I’m feeling pretty good so far with how the training is going, and today’s race (even though it was only a 5K) got me excited for the half marathon.

Next Saturday’s run is going to be my longest yet (7 miles) so it will be good to see how that one turns out. I’m still trying to find a 10K that I could do on April 10…but the only two that I seem to be able to find are more train runs (Muir Woods & Tilden Park in Oakland) – so we’ll see. I feel like I’m starting to get into this running thing – and doing the race certainly helped.

A Beautiful Idea: Artists Changing the World

Adam — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:00:22 +0000

There is a new art-for-charity site and community called A Beautiful Idea put together by Evie Shaffer. She describes the purpose for the site in the following way:

Giving artists the chance to create for a cause. Giving everyone the chance to support charity by purchasing art. It’s a beautiful idea, and we want you to be a part of it.

How It Works

Etsy sellers, independent sellers and artists create a unique product to list and sell in their store, with 100% of the sale of that item going to charity. This can be ongoing, or a one-time deal. Your choice.
Once a sale is made, you are responsible for donating the funds to ABI’s donation center.
At the end of every month, ABI will donate the funds given to the chosen charity and give a report on our blog. Every 6 months (or once our monetary goal is hit), a new charity or cause will be selected.

3 Easy Steps for Artists to Join

Just fill out this form to join the network – http://beautifulidea.evie-s.com/blog/sign-up-form
Get to work creating, and listing your unique product(s) for our big push by March 15th.
Donate 100% of your item(s) cost to ABI’s donation center – http://beautifulidea.us/donate.html

3 Benefits

Artists have a way to create work for a greater purpose.
Consumers are given the opportunity to buy a unique product that supports a cause.
Charities are given the proceeds to help their mission.

The Potential
This movement has terrific potential. If only 1% of Etsy.com’s current 200,000+ sellers joined ABI and contributed $20 each month, we would raise $40,000 dollars each month! Think of the unprecedented change that artists could make in the world.

Theology After Google #tag10

Adam — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:31:37 +0000

I’m down in Claremont, CA right now for the Theology After Google conference, actually listening to Google-expert Jeff Jarvis Skype in with our conference. This is a conference that is both focusing on new theology and new media (in a world after Google). There are some really great folks down here sharing TED-style presentations on ideas about theology & technology.

Hearing Jeff Jarvis was one of the highlights so far, as well Dwight Friesen, Tony Jones and Jonathan Walton. I gave a presentation last night called “Pomomusings & Beer: Opening up the Conversation for All.” If you want to watch it, you can go here and skip to around the 27 minute mark, and I posted my slides here. It’s been good to re-connect with many friends and hear some great stuff about theology after the age of Google.

We still have a full day left of activities and you can follow the Twitter feed here if you like.

The Best Day to Take Off While in Ministry

Adam — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:29:12 +0000

A few days ago, I posed the following question on Facebook/Twitter: “For those in ministry: what day do YOU think is the best for your day off? And why?” Since getting back into ministry, I’ve realized that, first of all, I’m pretty bad about actually trying to take a day off. During my first year, I didn’t really take one. Last fall, I was taking off Mondays…and now (because of some scheduling issues), I’m taking Thursdays off. Taking Thursdays off feels weird and don’t think I’ll keep doing it next fall, but that’s what I have this spring. So, I received a lot of responses to my question and wanted to share some of them here with you.

Of the 22 people who responded, 1 person took Thursdays off, 13 took Fridays off and 8 took Mondays off. There were some folks who suggested that it was a seasonal thing (“during high school football season, taking Fridays off didn’t make sense” or “during summer, Fridays for 2-day weekends – but during school, Mondays because that’s most restorative”). Others said that as Associate Pastors, Fridays were great days – but once they started preaching weekly as solo pastors, Mondays became the necessary day of Sabbath. But there were some interesting thoughts regarding which day was better.

Reasons for taking Friday off

You might “actually” get a 2-day weekend off
Doing Friday pushes me to get the sermon done early
Friday – because I yearn for 48 hours off!
Two days of rest before Sunday
Fridays lets you get out of town easier, Thursday night through Saturday

Reasons for taking Monday off

Sundays are so exhausting, I need a break
The need to “recover” from the weekend
I preach every week now, I need Monday
Monday feels like a real Sabbath

Obviously – there isn’t any magic to which day you take – just the fact that you DO TAKE A DAY OFF. Now, I feel quite hypocritical while typing that…because I am REALLY BAD at taking my days off. During Lent, Sarah has decided to make Thursdays her Sabbath days, so it’s helpful to have someone else reminding me to stop doing church-related stuff on my computer, etc.

What do you find is the best day for you to take off, and why?

Plugging In Without Shorting Out

Adam — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:00:03 +0000

I wanted to share with you about an event that I’m going to be at next month in Des Moines. The Presbytery of Des Moines is putting on an event called “Plugging In Without Shorting Out.” According to the brochure, the leadership for the three day conference will cover topics like:

Using technology to help congregations communicate online
Learning how to do more for less (using technology on limited budgets)
How to use technology to reach youth
Media and worship
The emerging church conversation
Spiritual disciplines
How to think outside the box

Through worship, general sessions and breakout times, our leaders will both show and model for us how we can “plug in without shorting out.”

I’ll be giving one of the keynote addresses and leading a breakout group. There is a really great group of folks who are going to be there, including Jim Bonewald, Kim Coulter, Meredith Kemp-Pappan, Susan Phillips and Andrew Yeager-Buckley.

If you’re in the area, it’d be great to be able to connect with you while I’m there. Please let me know if you’re going to be at the event – maybe we can get a tweetup organized or something like that. I don’t know that there is a Twitter hashtag setup yet for the event but you can definitely follow along that way if you’re not able to be there.

You can follow these links for more info:

#runrevrun Week 4 Update

Adam — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:52:57 +0000

So, I thought my half-marathon training deserved another update today because, well, let’s be honest. I have passed the 3 week threshold that we were all so worried about (yes, I know you were ALL worried). On the right is my training schedule and you can see that we are now into Week 4 and things are going well.

Granted, I did have what seemed like one of the greatest existential arguments with myself lying in bed, as I debated the pros and cons of actually getting out of bed to do my Monday morning run…but other than that, things are great…I knew I really wanted to be able to keep this up for 12 weeks and while I was optimistic, I also knew my past habits…

And as of this morning, I’ve logged a total of 50 miles so far in preparation for my half-marathon on May 1. And that alone seems like something to be happy about.

Surprisingly, I think I’ve gotten to a place where I’m actually, starting to maybe be a little bit enjoying this odd t thing called running. I never understood “those people” (and still don’t really) but it feels good to get out on the trails/road and come back realizing that you just ran 3.5 miles or 5 miles…it’s a good feeling.

And definitely run with the help of my RunKeeper Pro iPhone App to keep track of my mile times, try and beat my previous times, etc. However, one thing that I was made aware of yesterday when I ran 3.5 miles, I’m really not out to beat anyone, to prove anything to anyone…I just want to finish.

Now, my times are improving, which is fun to watch. You can see two runs I did below that are the same distance (while different routes) and you can see that I improved pretty dramatically between the two. However, I pushed myself a little too hard to get the 8:59/mile pace, and didn’t feel that great for the rest of the day. So I am starting to feel like I’m finding what pace works best for me.

The other thing that’s been really key for me is dailymile.com. It’s basically “Facebook for Runners.” You input routes, find races you’ll be running and see who else is running them, have “friends” and a lot of other cool interactive stuff. I’ve found it to be an incredibly supportive online community, which has been really helpful. And now some other friends (both online and ones I’ve actually met) have joined so that’s pretty great.

Anyway – just wanted to give you an update on how the running has been going. I’m starting to get a little nervous (and excited) for the American River Parkway Half Marathon.

3.5 mile run on February 22, 2010

3.5 mile run on March 1, 2010

Carrie Newcomer’s “Before and After” Album: A Review

Adam — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:00:03 +0000

I was really excited to get a new Carrie Newcomer CD in the mail a few weeks ago. About two years ago, I had the chance to interview Carrie and also got a chance to see her perform in a small venue in Philadelphia. The show was really great and definitely got me hooked on Carrie’s singer-songwriter music. She has songs that are deeply theological, some that just make you laugh and others that have some really thought-provoking and well-crafted lyrics. Her songs are stories of faith, spirituality, social justice and of a life well-lived in pursuit of truth and deep meaning.

Her new album Before and After is no different than the others – it was a joy to get a chance to listen through it, especially to the title track, “Before and After” which you can listen to below (it features a guest appearance from Mary Chapin Carpenter).

Carrie also teams up with Krista Detor in another great song on the album, “Do No Harm.” She describes this song as “a hymn for those who believe in the possibility of the peaceable kingdom here on earth, here and now.” The chorus is below:

“Do no harm shed no blood, the only law here is love.
We can call the kingdom down here on earth.
Beat your swords into plows, don’t be afraid I’ll show how.
Lift your eyes to the skies. All is holy here.”

You really can’t go wrong with a Quaker singer-songwriter who has such a beautiful voice and says her songs are inspired by her progressive faith and spirituality, the Tao Te Ching, personal conversations with Parker Palmer and the works of Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Scott Russell Sanders and Barbara Kingsolver.

If you haven’t listened to Carrie Newcomer’s music before – I’d really suggest you give it a shot. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. If you want to get to know Carrie Newcomer a little better, check out some of these links:

CarrieNewcomer.com
Twitter: @CarrieNewcomer
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarrieNewcomer

Carrie Newcomer will be performing in Berkeley at Freight & Salvage on March 11 at 8pm. I’ll unfortunately be out of town for that show – but if you’re local, you should definitely check her out. More details can be found here.

The Death of the Handshake and the Rise of the…Curtsy!

Adam — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:00:44 +0000

It should be noted that this post is written in the words of guest-blogger Sarah Walker Cleaveland, as she said “I have an idea for your blog” while she was half-asleep. It seemed like a good idea at the time – we’ll let you be the judge now.

I think you should use your influence to convince the internets that handshakes are part of the 1.0 world, very “modern” if you will.

Think about it: we live in an age of germs and phobia about germs and handshakes spread germs. Plus there are all the bad handshakes that you can get:

There are those people who try and just crush your hand.
There are those people with wet or moist hands (and you’re not quite sure why their hands are wet).
There is of course the “limp” or “dead fish” handshake.
There are people who just grasp your fingertips. Or the people who seem like they’re trying to take your pulse.
People who have just coughed or sneezed.
People who are eating shit and have crumbs and goop on their hands.

I mean, so many bad handshakes. And instead, I think we should promote the return of the curtsy.

Curtsy image courtesy of Sabrina Vincent

Curtsy is clearly postmodern (no right way to do it – so many options and variation). The curtsy is 2.0. It’s a sign of respect, we don’t have to touch each other, anyone can do it, we can all have fun laughing at each other (hence: more joy in the world). People of different heights can do it – you don’t have to kneel down to a child to do it. And doesn’t it just sound like a word that is more fun to say…curtsy. Try it…”curtsy.”

I see only one flaw with this plan – which is that while there is at least the slight possibility that we might be able to teach Sadie how to shake…the curtsy will be a little harder.

Photo Contest: Caption Needed

Convergence: Where Faith and Life Meet – A Review

Adam — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:00:35 +0000

Just recently I became aware of Convergence: Where Faith and Life Meet, a new study for small groups. I got a chance to watch some from the DVD Sampler tonight, and think it’s a pretty cool new resource. This is how they describe it on the website:

Convergence is a new DVD series designed specifically for small groups looking for more than just Bible study. Convergence will examine the intersections between faith and real life with the goal of sparking deeper conversations and stronger community within small groups.

Each DVD features Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz) facilitating a conversation with another well-known Christian author or speaker about the challenges that Christians face while trying to integrate faith with real life.

Over the past year, I’ve found it especially difficult to find good curriculum / materials for groups for young adults. While Convergence is certainly for people of all ages (they suggest out-of-college and above), I think it’s something that might work well for such a group at our church. It’s a video-based curriculum featured Donald Miller interacting with some pretty cool people: Phyllis Tickle, Lauren Winner, Dan Allender and others. They have some discussion guides as well that you can preview here.

You can view their promo video here – I think I may try this out with some of our young adults this summer.

Lenten Reflections #4-6: Fasting, Praying & Giving

Adam — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:06:44 +0000

3 days into my Fast, Pray, Give Lenten discipline, I got lazy.

To be clear, I didn’t really get lazy from following the Fast, Pray, Give Lenten Calendar: I was following most of the things they recommended throughout the days and was enjoying a sense of rhythm to each day as I got up in the morning and checked out what we were going to be doing during the day. It’s fun to know there are thousands of people all doing the same things each day – a cool sense of a Lenten community.

But early on, I did realize that it was going to be difficult to blog each day about the day’s practices. And I realized that I was feeling disappointed that I missed a day, and then two, and then…and that’s not what I want this 2010 Lent to be about: feeling guilty for not accomplishing yet another thing that I tell myself I’m going to do. There are enough new challenges in my life right now (trying to manage my time better, running/working out daily, starting up Weight Watchers again…), so I don’t think I’m going to stick myself with another one.

If there are certain days that do stand out as particularly meaningful, I will probably share those on the blog. But at least this frees me up to not feel like I HAVE to blog each day on the disciplines.

One thing I realized is that through these 40 days of practicing different disciplines of fasting, praying and giving – hopefully there will be a few of them that will “stick” and continue on after Lent. Obviously not everything that Busted Halo suggests is going to work for me…nor should it. But hopefully there will be a few practices that I can latch onto for this season in my life.

I pray that in whatever way you have decided to experience Lent this year, that you are able to experience a greater awareness of God throughout your daily lives and that your practices might help prepare you for the celebration that is Easter.

#runrevrun Update as Week 3 Begins

Adam — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:17:04 +0000

Today began week 3 of the #runrevrun training for the American River Parkway Half-Marathon. Week 3 is a big week because that’s normally the limit for my workout/fitness stuff. I do something for a about 3 weeks and then…I just get lazy and stop. So, it’s important to push through this week and keep going.

I got a new pair of running shoes this past week, which was exciting. I’m a HUGE fan of Fleet Feet and they did a great job getting me fitted. I picked up a pair of Saucony Omnis and they are an amazing improvement over my 4-yr old Brooks Beasts.

I’ve been noticing some improvement over my runs just in the past two weeks, which is great. I shaved two minutes off my four-mile run between week 2 and week 1, and tonight’s 3.5 mile run was the best feeling run yet (details below). I think I even got to the point where I started to enjoy the run, which is certainly something I never thought I’d be able to say. Now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to say that when they start getting even longer, but things are going good so far.

Lenten Reflection #3: Dairy #FAIL

Adam — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 06:02:55 +0000

Today’s Fast, Pray, Give had to do with milk and prayer. It began with an interesting quote from a J.D. Salinger short story, “Teddy.” The quote had to do with finding God in all things and it had to do with milk. You can read the full quote here. And then we were given our three challenges:

Fast from dairy today.
Pray for the gift to see God in your everyday life.
Give the cost of a gallon of milk to your FPG bowl. (Your FastPrayGive Bowl is a container you’ve set aside to hold the money saved from various fasting challenges, to be used for whatever charity you choose at the end of Lent.)

Where I failed was in the fasting from dairy. I was doing okay until we sat down to our dinner (pizza) and Sarah pointed out that cheese was dairy. Crap. That part didn’t really work out for me. But Busted Halo says their plan is “unflunkable” so I guess that means I get a clean slate starting tomorrow. I really like the idea of having a FPG bowl that I can contribute to over the course of Lent and then donate to a charity of my choice.

The prayer challenge for today seems simple enough: look for ways to see God in our everyday life. That is something we are starting to incorporate into the beginning of all of our committee & staff meetings at the church I work at. We begin our time together by going around and answering the question, “How goes it with your soul?” A variation off the idea of “Where did you see God this week?” Something so simple, but something that we all need to be reminded to think about and reflect on throughout our days. If we do believe that God is present and active in this world – then we should be looking for ways in which we have encountered the Spirit in our lives and in our interactions with others.

Lenten Reflection #2: I complain a lot

Adam — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:00:16 +0000

Today’s Fast, Pray, Give seemed easy enough: try and take some of the focus off yourself and focus on others and praying for God’s help.

Fast from self-pity and complaining.
Pray for God’s help in handling something difficult in your life.
Give a kind word to someone who lacks confidence.

However, while I think that it did work like that to some degree, it also made me aware of how much I complain. Sarah and I went out to eat and were enjoying our bread + olive oil/balsamic vinegar and then it finally hit me that our service was REALLY slow. It had been quite awhile from when we ordered and still no food. I think I remarked about something and Sarah asked, “Are you complaining…?” And then I said something else later after lunch that bordered on self-pity…

I think that’s part of what’s helpful about things like this – it helps you become more AWARE. Awareness is really one of the most important things – no one can change anything about who they are if they don’t notice it. I think turning the focus off of ourselves during this time of the church year is a helpful and important move to make – and while I struggled with that today and failed a variety of times, it was helpful at least to have the awareness of that.

It’s not too late to join with the folks at Busted Halo and participate in the Fast, Pray, Give lenten disciplines.

Patheos Theoblogger Challenge: “Who/What is God?” in 100 Words or Less

Adam — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:35:56 +0000

Patheos offered a challenged to some “theobloggers” (I guess that would include me…) to try to describe God in 100 words or less. You can read more about their challenge here. I’m sure there will be some really great responses because there are some very cool folks who are also responding. While I’m sure that my beliefs will continue to be molded and changed by my experiences of life and ways in which I encounter God, this is where I’m at with God at this point in my journey:

The Triune God consists of God the Creator, God the Redeemer and God the Sustainer. Rather than existing in an hierarchical relationship together, the Triune God is a relational being – one which is dynamic and organic. The relationship is best described as that of a 3-person dance (perichoresis). The relationality between the members of the Triune God gives humanity one of its greatest clues to what being created in the imago dei truly means – to be in relationship with others and with God Godself.

You can read other responses here but feel free to contribute your own version of “Who/What is God?” in 100 words or less. You can do that on your own site, in the comments section here or at the Patheos site.

Lenten Reflection #1: Lent is good for dogs too

Adam — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:00:31 +0000

Today’s Fast, Pray, Give focused on being aware of the beauty in the world around us. It encouraged us to take a moment to slow down, to pray that God might show us something beautiful that we haven’t noticed before, and to give some time to enjoy art or nature.

So when Sadie came bounding in to the office, with an expectant look on her face, I thought going for a walk in the arroyo behind our house would be a good way to spend my first day of Lent. The above photo is part of the arroyo that Sadie and I walked across during our afternoon adventure. It felt good to get away from the computer, go for a walk, watch how excited a dog can get by a stream of water or by the rustling of a potential squirrel in the grass. I tried to be aware of my surroundings and realized how cool palm trees are and how big some of the ones around here are.

It’s funny how something as simple and easy as getting outside and going for a walk can both help me take a moment to realize that there are more important things than work and all the stuff that I spend time on, and help ground me. And it was clear that Sadie was quite fond of the idea as well. I think she’s a fan of Lent so far.

Lent 2010: What to do…?

Adam — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:31:02 +0000

“What are you going to give up?” That’s a pretty popular question during the days leading up to Lent. And it’s certainly been talked about a lot today on Twitter/Facebook and it’s been interesting to see what people are doing. Some folks are giving things up, some have decided to take something on…everyone has their own way of working their way through Lent. I never grew up practicing the tradition of giving things up, but when I got to college, it became “the thing to do.”

During my first year of seminary, a few of us decided to take something on for Lent, and we were deliberate about keeping Sabbath during Lent. It was a really good experience and I think we all got a lot out of it. That was probably the best Lenten experience I’ve had.

In our world of Facebook/Twitter/social media, there seems to be an interesting conversation taking place about giving up social media for Lent. Indeed, I’ve been asked numerous times, “So – are you giving up the Internet for Lent?! Haha.”

And while that certainly would be interesting, as someone who supplements my income by doing some web design on the side, it wouldn’t be the most prudent thing for me to do (i.e. “Why don’t you give up going to work for Lent? Huh?”). I posted something about this today and Tyler Braun was quick to reply on Twitter:

Bruce Reyes-Chow posted something interesting this morning, and I think he’s going to blog about it more later this evening. He wrote this on Facebook this morning:

“If giving up one’s Social Networking interaction means giving up a meaningful experience of community, then could/should folks also give up going to church?”

If social media is in fact a form of community (and for most people, that’s a given…), is giving up community, people, really how we want to spend Lent?

I wish I was going to be at Landon’s church tonight to hear him preach, but he was giving some teasers this afternoon on Twitter, including:

So no, I won’t be giving up social media for Lent. I may try to be a bit more aware of the amount of time I spend on it, but I won’t be giving up part of my community for Lent.

A friend on Facebook pointed me to Busted Halo’s website today and specifically their Lenten project called Fast, Pray, Give. Each day they offer examples of how you can fast from something, a guided way of praying for something specifically and a way in which you can give something as well. Looking through their description and the examples they have for today – the first day of Lent – I’m sold on it. I think it will be a great way of incorporating some new (and old) spiritual practices into my life over the next 40 days. I’ll also be blogging a short reflection each day during Lent about the practices of that day.

I don’t think there is one right way to “do Lent.” For some people, giving up chocolate might be just the thing that helps draw them closer to the holy. For others, deciding to do a daily devotional each morning at 6am might be the way to go. But for me, at least for this year, I’m going to be spending 40 days with the folks at Busted Halo fasting, praying and giving.

If you’re interested in what they’re doing, here are some helpful links for you:

Fast, Pray, Give 2010 Lenten Calendar
Busted Halo on Facebook
Busted Halo on Twitter
Presbyterian pastor Melissa DeRosia has also compiled a list of 40 Spiritual Practices for Lent

#runrevrun Half-Marathon Training Begins Today!

Adam — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:00:11 +0000

Today begins my 12-week training for the American River Parkway Half Marathon. It seemed like a good idea a few weeks ago to sign up for it. It’s on May 1, just about 2.5 weeks after my 30th birthday. The last time I ran a race it was a 5k and I’m pretty sure I was in 5th grade. I remember doing pretty well – but…that was about 20 years ago, so…

As I was writing this post, Sarah asked me, “So, 3 weeks would be the 28th, right?” That’s the joke (err, I don’t know if it’s actually a joke, per se) around our house. 3 weeks is about the amount of time that I commit to doing something. I ran for a couple weeks back in August (you can see my stats here) but again, it only lasted a couple weeks. I used my Moleskine PDA for about 3 weeks. And I’m sure Sarah could give you other examples as well.

So, this is 12 weeks. I’m using a variation of Hal Higdon’s half-marathon training: it involves running, cross-training, strength and stretching and…rest. It looks slightly intimidating – but also doable. I think I’ll be running the Diablo Trails Challenge 5k on March 20 and I’m trying to find a 10k on April 10th that I can run locally. Hopefully between the training and getting some actual racing experience in, I’ll be ready to drive up to Sacramento on April 30 and run the half-marathon the next morning.

The #runrevrun hashtag used in the title is something that a few folks in ministry started using a few weeks ago. I think part of it is to help with accountability, which is definitely something that I need. I taped up a few of my training schedules around the house for reminders (which is good, because Sarah can see them and remind me of what I need to do each day!) and am going to try and schedule in my runs to help me make sure that I actually do this.

For any of you who have trained for marathons or half-marathons, I’d love to know any tips or helpful advice that you might have. And feel free to check in with me on Facebook and Twitter and see if I’m keeping up with my training.

Ordination Update: Finally, A Decision

Adam — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:25:39 +0000

Many of you know that while I had planned on being ordained in December of ‘08 – things didn’t really pan out how I thought they would. It’s been over a year now since it all began – and while I haven’t wanted to rush into a decision concerning next steps, it became more and more clear that I really needed to make a decision. As I saw it, there were many options available to me – including an online ordination petition which over 140 people signed. I received a lot of counsel and advice from family and friends, colleagues, pastors and others. To be honest, there were many times in which I questioned whether even continuing to pursue ordination in the PC(USA) was what God was calling me to.

For the past six months, I’ve been wrestling with this decision. And today, I made a decision to continue with the Presbyterian Church (USA) ordination process.

I know there will be some who cannot understand this decision. Some who I consider close friends. And to be honest, I’m not 100% sure if “I” understand the decision.

As I’ve been attempting to discern where God is calling me, I’ve also been investigating other options. And each time that I would consider other options, there was something that kept pulling me back to being Presbyterian. The most frustrating part of that is that I could not name it. I still can’t name it. Sure there is the whole connectional piece, the vast network of friendships I’ve developed over the past 10+ years of “being Presbyterian” – but I just wasn’t quite sure WHAT it was that kept pulling me back.

And so even amidst that unknowing, I have decided to stick with it. To finish out the process. If all goes according to plan, I will be transferred into the Presbytery of San Francisco as a Candidate, complete three additional educational requirements and some other requirements and hopefully be ordained in the next couple years.

I’m not entirely sure what is drawing me toward the PC(USA). And for now – I’m okay with that. I’m okay with trusting that God is doing something, that God is at work somehow in all of this and that this is the right decision for me.

Will I be frustrated again with the process? With the denomination? With the bureaucracy? You bet! Will I do everything possible in my power to work for change in certain areas if and when I am finally ordained in the PC(USA)? I certainly hope so.

I have had a few meetings with the Presbytery of San Francisco’s CPM and have been impressed with the folks on the committee and they have been very willing to work with me on many areas. And some things are starting to fall into place: I just found out today that I’m eligible for a program at SFTS that will let me take a course for credit for only around $600, which is amazing. Hopefully the financial burden will be considerably less than what I had initially thought would be the case. Though I can say that I’m really not looking forward to more academic work…but, starting Monday I’ll be starting an SFTS Old Testament Prophets course.

For all of you who have been on this journey with me since it began – I have appreciated all your support and care for me this past year. The journey is far from over – but I’m feeling good about this next step.

Remembering: It’s Too Easy to Forget

Adam — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:00:34 +0000

Banksy Graffiti on the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank just outside of Bethlehem

Today I received an email from my buddy Keas Keasler, who is currently on a study trip in the Middle East with Princeton Seminary. The email directed me to a post he wrote entitled “A Pilgrimage (of many sorts) to Israel.” Reading through Keas’s post, as he was exposed to the stories and lives of Palestinians, reminded me of my time spent in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour in the summer of 2005. It seems like such a long time ago and I’m realizing how easy it is to forget. I made friends there. Lived with a family (I recently found out the husband of the couple I lived with passed away a few months ago). I hung out with youth who are probably in their late teens now.

My life went back to normal upon returning to the US. I certainly thought a lot about them…for the first few months. I did a few events on campus at Princeton Seminary…but it was too easy to just let my life slip back into my regular routine and not remember and think about my friends who continued to experience suffering and politically-backed (by both the Israeli and US governments) oppression.

I think there are many readers who have probably experienced similar situations. Perhaps it was a trip to Africa, a mission trip to an extremely impoverished area of Central America, a trip to the Middle East, a trip to Ireland and learning about the conflict there…so often we have these profound experiences where our worldviews our shifted, our “eyes are opened” to suffering around the world and then we struggle with what to do with that newfound information.

Most recently we watch CNN and read the news reports about the massive destruction and rising death tolls in Haiti. It seems that so many folks knew people affected by this tragic earthquake…I spent an hour or so reading news stories today that were simply devastating. So much death – so many people still missing. But what do we do? Sure we text HAITI to 90999 but then we do just go back to our regularly scheduled programming?

Keas’s post – and reading similar things from other friends still more intimately connected to peace and justice work within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – help ground me. They help remind me about my experience and help me remember. If you’re not familiar with the Israeli-Palestinian crisis (and even if you are), I’d recommend giving Keas’s post a read here. I’d also commend the Kairos Palestine Document to you as well. This document comes out of desperation from the Palestinian people. It’s a cry of urgency for a situation that has gone unnoticed by too many in the West:

We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation, with a cry of hope in the absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and faith in a God ever vigilant, in God’s divine providence for all the inhabitants of this land. Inspired by the mystery of God’s love for all, the mystery of God’s divine presence in the history of all peoples and, in a particular way, in the history of our country, we proclaim our word based on our Christian faith and our sense of Palestinian belonging – a word of faith, hope and love.

Why now? Because today we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people. The decision-makers content themselves with managing the crisis rather than committing themselves to the serious task of finding a way to resolve it. The hearts of the faithful are filled with pain and with questioning: What is the international community doing? What are the political leaders in Palestine, in Israel and in the Arab world doing? What is the Church doing? The problem is not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are destroyed, and this must be of concern to the Church.

We address ourselves to our brothers and sisters, members of our Churches in this land. We call out as Christians and as Palestinians to our religious and political leaders, to our Palestinian society and to the Israeli society, to the international community, and to our Christian brothers and sisters in the Churches around the world.

For me and my call in this world – I need to remember this story. I need to continue to talk about this issue with people I come into contact with. I need to do what I can to continue to bring awareness to this issue…what do you need to remember?

Uncommon iPhone Cases: Create Your Own

Adam — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:25:48 +0000

The above video shows you the new iPhone case that I made at getuncommon.com. These iPhone cases are made by a new company called Uncommon – they’re great because you can create your own case using any image/photo/graphic that you want. The quality of these cases is amazing. Both Sarah and I were VERY impressed with the quality. The website is also a lot of fun to use and create your own designs.

If you’re interested in getting one, I suggest you watch the video above.

Below are the designs that Sarah and I made for our new cases.