The Lord of the Rings is an amazing trilogy. It was written by JRR Tolkien who, according to Tom Shippey, as a Christian, wrote an essentially pagan myth. This myth is powerful in its ability to portray the various facets of human nature as it interacts with a believable spiritual reality. To the extent that it is true in its portrayal, I think that trilogy glorifies God. I think the work of that author does so amazingly well and on levels that are still beyond me.

Recently, I have been meditating on words quoted from the movie and used in a men's conference. They are the words of Elrond to Aragorn (son of Arathorn) on the eve of the battle before the walls of Minas Tirith. He says, "Put aside the ranger. Become who you were born to be." The men's conference called us as men to do the same. We were called to put aside our lonely, self-focused ways and become men of community and men who are focused on bringing good to our world.

I have been ruminating on the ways I have and have failed to put aside those ways. "How can I become king?" How can I become the great man I was, obviously, meant to be? Then I read, NT Wright's article in the Sept/Oct 2012 edition of Relevant magazine. Wright wrote about the five mistakes we as Christians often make when considering what to do with the recorded life and works of Christ before his passion and death. As I finished reading the article Wright's line struck me, "In fact, the four Gospels are trying to say this is how God became king."

"this is how God became king."

If the story of Aragorn within the Lord of Rings trilogy is a good portrayal of both human nature and spiritual realities, then in that story, I am not Aragorn (son of Arathorn). Instead, I am either Gimli or Legolas. Jesus, for me, is Aragorn. He put aside his own independence. He took on the responsibility of this "Middle Earth." He won the victory. He became king. I am a friend and fellow traveler, who, in a sense, shares in his suffering and will one day, in a very real sense, fully share in his victory and glory.

Festival of the Nations

It has been awhile since I last posted. In that time, I have moved, shifted schools, and job sites. St. Louis is a beautiful with so many things that glorify God. The Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis (BGC) is a non-religious organization that provides kids with a safe place to play, learn, and build positive relationships with adults and their peers. This organization has been in St. Louis since 1967 and has positively affected the lives of thousands of children and their families. Family is a fundamental institution to any society or cultures. BGC is an organization that helps families resist modern pressures that fragment family relationships and stunt positive mental and psychological growth in teens. I believe that this organization glorifies God.

My favorite annual event in St. Louis has come and gone. The Festival of the Nations! For two days, cultural organizations come together to share their food, their dances, and their art with each other. One day you can carry a Filipino drink, corn beef and cabbage from the Highlands, and Ethiopian injerah all to one lunch table and devour it. On that same day you can hear an Indian dobro, see traditional German dancing, and watch Brazilian capoeira dancers “fight” each other. It makes for an absolutely awesome two days. My personal favorite was hearing Portuguese bossa nova. The music is deeply moving.

The Festival of the Nations is my favorite reminder of Revelation 7:9. One day, we will stand before the throne and the Lamb, just as we are. If God looks forward to us and our culture, why shouldn’t we seek the same now?

Community?

This has been one of the main things that being a Trinity Fellow has taught me.
Just what is community? and What is not community?

I was the only African American Trinity Fellow. This creates real space for the full gravity of questions of being in community.

I'll never forget jogging by two African American guys, one of whom said "What's good family?!" He said this because I was jogging through the neighborhood for Trinity Pres.'s VidaJoven jog. This run was designed to get people out and together to raise money for Nicaraguan children who need financial help attending YoungLife camp this summer. Trinity Presbyterian is currently, mostly Caucasian American. So I, and a long line Caucasian Americans had, passed these two men as they walked along the street. I passed them by again, (I had to meet up with a sixth grader) they regarded me and did not smile.

Were these two men my community, automatically because of their race? Were we automatically brothers in the same struggle? or not? Did I betray my community?

I don't think we were. I didn't know them, they didn't know me. Our struggles might have been similar in a few instances. Along with community comes with responsibility. I mean that we are both able to respond and can be held accountable to respond to those we are in community with. This is possible because of a relationship built and maintained overtime. How can you have community without relationship? As a Christian, how can you have community based that based on everything but THE relationship? Deitrich Bonhoeffer writes in Life Together, "What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ." The community of the body of faith is not built on our taste, culture, or shared history. Part of what determines my relationships is part of what Christ has done in placing me here. I believe that God has placed people in my physical presence for a very embodied community. You can see examples of this at the end of Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 Peter, the apostles admonition for Christian to greet one another with a "holy kiss."

Now, I know social kisses are intrinsic to Greek culture but the point is that you can't greet and kiss those who are not there, no matter who similar the two of you are. Physical presence as a necessity for relational community is found in many other places throughout the Bible. It is found in process of discipleship that Jesus used. It is found in the help Aaron and Hur holding Moses' hands. It is found in the community of David and his vagabond warriors that ran for from King Saul.

In short, I believe that God has made no mistake in placing me where I am. He has made no mistake in placing certain people, like Fellows, around me. This does not mean that I should exclude every other relationship in life. God gave those too and he must be honored in them. It means that must honor his decisions. In doing so, I must choose make my life with those in the Fellows world and to allow them to do the same with me. This has not been easy nor has it been perfectly done, but I must continue to honor God's decision and trust that His work is good.

An Addendum:

Part of me wants to delete this post. There's so much to explain around it. Yes, there is no denying that through our rich forms of communication it is possible to build relationship without a physical presence. Still relationship depends on the person being knowing and being known, not just a set of assumptions.

A Song of Accents: A Psalm

I walk up the stairs every day to get to work. I go taking my sacrifice of livelihood and prestige. I go, applying the sacrifices of others. Their finances, their time, such valuable stock, I help make it count.

I work for Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries. We serve a poor community in Charlottesville, VA. We serve the entire family. Fathers, mothers, men, ladies; their sons and our daughters: our students. In serving, we build. We build homes, community, good diets, good learners, their skill sets, and the family.

“Unless the LORD builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.” ^v1

We watch as we build. We watch kids because they need the attention. We watch our brother and sisters so we can take each opportunity to BE brothers and sisters. As we watch, we guard. We stamp out bad behavior. We watch to encourage good behavior. We guard against despair with arms for others to grieve in. We guard against hopelessness with home visits, open car doors, service projects, newsletters, and celebrating report cards. We guard the good we see.

“Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.” ^v1

We build and guard and find ourselves children, with children. In seeking to give fellowship and resources to the poor, we ourselves become poor. We become the ones without family and friends. We become ones with needs so far beyond our means we can do nothing but beg. And the first ear we reach is God’s. As children, we beg for things we can’t live without; we depend on him. As wait for our need to be met (and surpassed), God’s children depend on us. They knock on our doors, wait for our cars, open their arms, smile at our faces, and wait for us.

In the moments of returning a grim face for a grimace at the sound of our shaking, begging cups, in the moment returning a cranky glare to winsome giggles, we remember. We are a blessing that God has blessed.

“Children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

Each morning, we all walk seven, small flights of stairs to get to work. We carry our sacrifices to and meet the sacrifices of others at the top. Like people and priest so long ago, we travel, with hope, to worship.

A gift at L'Arche

I visited L'Arche again. It was just for dinner. I walked in greeted people and one of the core members took my hand. He refused to let go. He just held it. He sat down, spoke to people in his own way, even participated in the prayer, while holding my hand. Here I was, a grown man, knowing almost no one in the room, with a big goofy smile on my face. I felt welcomed, truly welcomed, heck: poured into by one guy, who does uses his hands to communicate. He held my hand and refused to let go. He walked me around the house, he introduced me to everyone. It was different, but I really appreciated it. I even got to talk to those that serve the core-members, like really get to know them. We had some really funny moments, but we would not have been comfortable enough to share if not for the residents. I came by myself, because of him I was not there alone. For a moment, I was welcome into family. For a moment. That was the gift.

So Little to Say...

I have so little to say at this moment. For the past few weeks, I've been feeling responsible for and response-able about my financial situation. I've been working part-time and going to school for the past few years. I want to work full time and go to school part-time for as long as I still go to school. Its not been an easy transition so far. Its been a lot of waiting, hoping, chilling, and praying. My eyes have been on God and I. I see other successful people and think yeah working on getting there, MUST. GET. THERE.

Consequently my eyes have not been peeled for things and people that I believe glorify God. I have noticed a few things.

The book: "Boundaries" By Dr.s Henry Townsend and John Cloud. It glorifies God in that it seeks to make people more like God. God is a definitely a God of boundaries and healthy ones. In being like him, we must build and maintain healthy wise boundaries. This book definitely helps.

African Christian Fellowship Young Adults: The National Board.

I don't think I've met another group of more talented, professional, and Passionate people. These guys put on a AWESOME conference in Chicago. I left inspired to go change my world.

Open Air Campaigners
These guys glorify God through spreading the gospel, on the street, to anyone who will stop to solve their puzzles and listen. They are a network of people determined to keep speaking the gospel out loud, for as long as they can.

My mother:
She is sixty today. She raised some of her sisters, and 5 strong sons with my father. She's nothing short of amazing. Her strength, her joy, her vision, I don't know a woman who doesn't admire her. I wouldn't know of the many times she sought to serve God if she didn't tell me. She's given her time to patients, the homeless, the mentally handicapped, and normal people who could use an extra mom. I only get one birth mother. I'm glad I have one who this AWEsome.

Joy Ike:
I have seen her perform like two more times after the last post. I've had the chance to speak with her a few times. She seems to be one of the few that has figured out how to fly, with her feet still on the ground. Rumors: Get it. The album will make you question your life.


Matthew 5:16
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven."

These things were not done in secret. (When I get a job, it won't be a secret! :) They were done in the open air for the sake of a Living God. Let us go and shine with them.

Joy. Light. Salt.

I saw Joy Ike jam for the second time, live. It was amazing and I am looking forward to the third. I met her in an organization called African Christian Fellowship. They were teenagers at the time. She and her sister, Peace, were inseparable and hilarious. We met every once in awhile over the years. I hope we get sit and talk with either one during the upcoming ACF Young Adult Conference. Every time, I did sit down with them, which wasn't for long, I was struck by their upbeat, vivacious spirit and their amazing musical talent. Both could make any operational piano sound like a full blown band. Whether Christian or non-Christian songs, singing or playing back-up for someone else they enjoyed a good piano.

I arrived at the bar, DC9, fresh from an ACF meeting, still in church clothes. While I waited for the show to start, I learned that it would be a group of nine singer/songwriters. Each singer would do two songs and call the next up. She was number five. The other artist were great but it was a long wait for one I came to see. When it was her turn she almost bounced onto the stage. She gave a spare explanation of her first song. She set up her pedal, took of one shoe, and made an entire day worth it. During "City Lights," she wove a story of highlighted with her words and shadowed by the scarcity of her descriptions. I could hear the heart of whoever lived under those lights; I heard my own questions created by the shadows of within the story. Joy Ike, "She Flowed." She breathed deep, sang hard, and made sure you could feel every note she gave.

The point of this blog is to look into a sometimes light world around me and to point to those things, actions and people that honor God. I mention her because I believe that she honors God. Her faith is evident. From times I have spoken with her to the diction of her songs, I know she's a believer. She honors God for boldly going to places and amongst people where God is not. For some of the other nine, God was not present. Some questioned if He was there at all. Some declared Him a crutch, a figment of imagination. Some mournfully sang of lost relationships and celebrated the weddings of loved ones. I know that all of her songs don't scream Jesus for the chorus line, but I hope (and I'll pray) that those around her will meet the Christ within her.

From her performances on the streets of Philadelphia and the theaters of Harlem, to the clubs on Sunday and Saturday night, Joy Ike plays, sings, and performs to the glory of the one who made her. To His fame, like the many saved that history might never name, she's been Joy amongst the despairing, light to the searching, and salt to those tasting for change.