I’ve been waiting to write this post FOREVER!!!

Stephen Paletta won the Big Give!

Well, you already know that if you’ve been watching Oprah’s recent philanthropy contest on TV. But you may not know the rest of the story…!  And we all love a great back story, right?!

Here goes at least a small portion…. going back more than 20 years! Many of you know I first met my husband Jeff through a Bible Study at Cornell University, when invited by a lacrosse player friend of mine named Frank Kelly. Frank and Jeff played football together at Cornell, and Jeff invited Frank to a Bible Study he began in his fraternity house. God works in mysterious ways!?!

Frank and his wife Gayle have remained great friends of ours over the years… helping our ministry in Boston, sharing vacations, etc. They live in Baltimore and are very active in business, ministry, the community, and philanthropy both locally and in Africa. Some of their story will be included in the next Soul Care Study Guide on Simplicity! We love and treasure Frank and Gayle and their dear kiddos.

Frank reached out to many other students at Cornell–including his all-star teammate and fraternity brother, Stephen Paletta. Steve is now a devoted Christian man, and it was his pastor who suggested Paletta audition for the show. Another element of interconnectedness: Stephen’s “winning give” took place right here in Chicago, raising over $160,000 for an amazing inner-city Christian school, Chicago Hope Academy, founded by our friend Bob Muzikowski.

I love a great God-story, and I thought you might as well.

Here’s more about Stephen’s work, his faith journey, and his part on The Big Give.

I hope you’ll find encouragement in these inter-woven stories to persevere in serving both the least and the lost. Who in your life right now needs help–spiritually or materially? Who are your Stephen Palettas? What worthy causes do you know that could be served by a few strategic phone calls or a day of service? Maybe God will whisper something to you, even now… be ready to jump!

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about peace. Not the kind we pray for globally, though admittedly that is very important.

I’ve been wondering, instead, about peace, or lack of it, in my body.  Did you know these things take up residence in our bodies? As we grow and develop, certain attitudes–character qualities–become settled into our body. Automatic, physical activites we do quite easily without actually thinking. (how often do we really think about smiling? Glaring? Shampooing our hair? Tying shoes? Typing a sentance? The body learns to do it.)

In the same way that attitudes such as joy, openness or wonder visibly reside on faces, the fibers of our muscles also become hardened into shape by patterns of stress, rage, or panic.  Tension that “lives” in our shoulders or back,  tightness in the stomach or chest, stress on our forehead, feet that just keep tapping. Our unrest, discontent, pain, anger, and even confusion eventually settle into our bodies.

For better or for worse, our bodies get “formed” as a result of our interior world–the world of the soul.

So what about peace? How do I persuade my body to be at peace?  I am learning that I need to actually practice peace. Here’s a few of the ways I’m practicing… when I notice physical anxiety, I choose to relax that part of my body. Saying, in essence, Peace, be still. Praying through the 23rd Psalm reminds me of ultimate peace in God’s good care. Times of solitude help me physically experience peace, which is slowly re-training my body. Allowing my body enough sleep helps, too. There is no virtue in sleep deprivation!!

Of course, as a fruit of the spirit, Peace invades my soul–including my body–when I connect with Christ, the Prince of Peace. Sometimes, that re-connection with Jesus is explicitly needed before I can relax into physical peace. Sometimes, I can just remind my shoulders that Jesus is here.

I’m challenged especially this week by his example. He who, in the face of unjust accusation, betrayal, physical torture, and even death, seems to have remained composed. At peace. Not retaliating, not crumbling.

An interesting quote on spiritual formation and the body, as it relates to peace, from Dallas Willard:

“Peace is a condition of the body, and until it has enveloped our body it has not enveloped us.” Renovation of the Heart

Often, lately, I join the writer of Pslam 116, saying ”Be at rest, once more, O my soul” 

For those of us who enjoy the strategic conversations connected to soul development, you might find this book to be helpful and inspiring. Reveal: Where Are You? discusses the results from a massive spiritual growth survey done in 2004 at Willow Creek Community Church (and the growing body of data from other churches who have been surveyed as well). The Reveal website, through the Willow Creek Association, is helpful and interesting, too.

As I work with church leaders around the country (and even internationally), I find a tremendous amount of interest in these survey results–and rightly so. Here we find the convergence of “church growth” and “spiritual growth”.

Have you read it? What do you think about it?

If you want to learn more about connecting spiritual formation, soul care, and strategic next steps, you could

• attend our next gathering of the Spiritual Formation Alliance–Midwest Region on May 3.  Joel Warne will again facilitate our morning, and then we will enjoy lunch and afternoon workshops followed by a closing session. All are welcome! Register on the site.
• listen to the audio of a Reveal-related session I gave at last week’s Catalyst Bonfire . (Pastor Harvey Carey’s keynote is excellent, too!) (see also: www.catalystweb.org)

Power. We all need it, we all use it. And to some degree, we all have it. Personal power, girl power, star power. Knowledge is power. Position is power. God is power. We talk about the power of the gospel, the power of the cross, the power of prayer.

Ephesians chapter one affirms that the very same power that started Jesus’ dead heart beating and sent brain waves through his silent skull is available for us today. Throughout history, God’s people have journeyed into the darkest needs of the world by the tailwind of that very real power. Mountains have been moved.

And yet many remain, so we look for more power.

One of my favorite contrarian realities of the Christian faith is the inverse relationship between human power and the power of God. In Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God, Marva Dawn explores this relationship through a careful study of Paul’s words to us in 2 Corinthians 12:9. I recommend you read her book to understand her thesis about our common mis-understanding of the truth stated by God to Paul in response to his weakness. Dawn suggests a truer rendering of this beloved text would convey this idea: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is brought to its end (or to its limit) in weakness”.

Might it be that only our weaknesses bring us to the point of being able to receive God’s power?

Gerald May writes this: “There is a relentless willfulness in us that seldom ceases until we have been brought to our knees by incapacity and failure.” (The Dark Night of the Soul, p 86)

Only then can we even imagine honestly echoing the Apostle Paul’s radical words: “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest (=tabernacle!!) on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight (can you imagine?!?!) in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12: 9-10)

Where does that hit you today? What difficulties are you in the middle of? What weakness has been exposed in you lately? What hardship are you facing? Have you been persecuted? Insulted? Have you been brought to your knees by incapacity and failure? If so, gain the hope of the tabernacling presence of the Powerful One. The Loving One. The One who is very much alive.

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

but let those who boast boast about this:

that they understand and know me,

that I am the Lord,

who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight.” Jeremiah 9:23-24

I’ve written before about a ministry I have loved getting to know: CRM: Empowering Leaders.

 At the event a few weeks ago, I received a lovely devotional guide for Lent that I intend to use, beginning today–Ash Wednesday. It’s called The Journey to Surrender.

I have a printed copy, but also signed up for their daily emails during Lent. Link here to see today’s which is about experiencing Lent in community.

If you are searching for a way to connect to the meaning of this season, I would encourage you to sign up for the daily email, too. 

Themes developed will be: Thirst, Seize, Relinquish, Prevail

I am looking forward to this journey! Please, join in…

I have never been asked a more sincere but bewildering question. “Do you plug in?” she repeated? “Oh, yeah… you’re driving Brendon’s car; Brendon doesn’t plug in. Do you want to plug in?”

Again, clueless.

Turns out, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada… the environmental conditions tend to make car engines freeze. Minus 40 is a hostile environment for maintaining the core heart of a vehicle. How do folks make sure they can still drive? They plug in.

In fact, the entire community arranges itself for this! Drivers purchase special adaptors for the engine block (I am stretching my automotive understanding to its limits), so that whether they are in the garage, at the office parking lot, at the church parking lot, and even at the hotel where I am staying, they often “plug in”.

While this is certainly no perfect image, I couldn’t help but notice the connections to our need for connection with God. Like the harsh Saskatchewan winter, the reality of ordinary life is often quite hostile to the well-being of our soul. And yet, deep within, the soul invisibly drives everything that matters to us… far more than just our car!

In order to live the lives we’re called to live, in order to be available and effective and loved as God’s people in this world, we, too, need to guard and protect that inner engine, what Henri Nouwen called, “the fire within”. Of course, the opportunity for us to “plug in” doesn’t require a physical outlet in a parking lot; God’s presence and power and love surround us at all times. Yet we, too, need to be intentional about connecting to the source. Simple spiritual practices do this. They care for our souls; they connect us to love.

Do you plug in? Can you connect with God right now, even as you read? What difference does it make?

In preparing for this weekend’s National Missionary Training Forum, sponsored by Church Resource Ministries, I read a fascinating article about Leighton Ford’s current involvement in Spiritual Direction.

For those who want to understand more about spiritual direction, from the heart and soul of a respected and beloved evangelist, I thought you might find it inspiring and interesting as well.

Enjoy!

a Quote:

“I began to realize that a lot of my best work in Arrow [leadership development ministry] had been at the level of spiritual direction—long walks and talks with men and women, listening to their own stories, telling them mine,” he says. “Increasingly, I found that many of them wanted guidance about evangelism and mission, but more than anything they wanted spiritual guidance.” (emphasis mine)

Link to the whole article

Over the past few years, I’ve had the great honor (and fun!) of working with some exceptionally gifted leaders and teachers and musicians through the Spiritual Formation Alliance. The SFA hosted national events in 2004 and 2006, and then regional Forums in 2007.

Currently, I give leadership to the Midwest-based efforts. At our most recent gathering we decided on a few things I want to share with the Soul Care community:

• We have a new Facebook group, Alliance-Midwest, to make connections with others and share upcoming events/helpful resources. Already, discussions on retreat centers and books have begun. (We’ll interpret “Midwest” loosely if you live elsewhere but would like to join us online for the conversation!) If/when you have a Facebook account (free), simply request to join the group.
• Our next “event” is Saturday, May 3, hosted at Willow Creek Community Church. The morning provides a guided solitude experience for personal refreshment, and the afternoon will be devoted to various topics related to spiritual formation and leadership, prayer ministry, personal soul care, etc. Registration information will be available soon. If you would like to be placed on our email list, please contact us at connect@soulcare.com.

Author Eugene Peterson speaks directly and poignantly on the dilemma many of us feel in vocational ministry. I’ll let his words (below) speak for themselves, but would love to hear your thoughts. (BTW, thanks, Gary, for your comments on the importance of silence as a pastor. I think you’ll like this)

Early on in Peterson’s ministry he developed this awareness:

“I and my work converged: my work an extension of my faith, vocation serving as paving to make the faith accessible for others who wished to travel this road.

Then this chasm opened up. This split between personal faith and pastoral vocation… Gradually it dawned on me that the crevasse was not before but within me. … Why weren’t things fitting together simply and easily?  I was a pastor vocationally; I was a Christian personally. I had always assumed the two, “pastor” and “Christian”, were essentially the same thing and naturally congruent. Now I was finding that they were not. Being a Christian, more often than not, seemed to get in the way of working as a pastor. Working as a pastor, with surprising frequency, seemed to put me at odds with living as a Christian.” (Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness, Eugene Peterson)

This painful awareness led Peterson to search for “a spirituality adequate to my calling” or “an interior adequate to the exterior“, which he writes of, now, with some thirty years’ worth of hindsight on pastoral ministry and the personal life. The big idea? Our ministry becomes a career, and we bow low to it, UNLESS we find a way to “pay more attention to what God does than what I do., and to find daily, weekly, yearly rhythms that would get that awareness into my bones.” 

He particularly hopes to encourage those who, facing this same painful awareness, never resolve the chord in their souls, and instead abandon vocational ministry.

So how about you? Have you had a similar awareness? What helps you develop a spirituality adequate to your vocation, be it “ministry” “motherhood” “marketplace” “student” or something entirely different? The challenge, of course, is universal.

journaling questions:

• What tensions exist between my personal devotion to Jesus Christ and the work I do?
• What helps resolve that tension constructively?

This past week, I had the great fun of joining in a week-long conversation about starting the new year out right… courtesy of Midday Connection on WMBI. Throughout the week, hosts Melinda Schmidt and Anita Lustrea interviewed guests on several topics such as getting organized and being wise with money.

And Thursday was Soul Care day! Anita wondered, how might we arrange our lives in 2008 for a healthy, growing relationship with God? Adele Calhoun and I shared the interview, and enjoyed the conversation with Anita as well as the folks who called in during the broadcast.

So what was the “answer”? How do we care for our souls in ‘08? You’ll need to listen to the archives to hear the whole thing… but here’s a few highlights:

Pay attention to your desire. For “more” for “something else” for “transformation”. Desire, Adele reminded us, can take the form of a positive feeling or even a holy discontent, a holy longing, both pointing to a desire for change. What to do with that desire? First, it might be helpful to write about it in a journal. Capture those fleeting thoughts or wishes or longings on paper, where they can become more concrete and actionable. Once identified, you can Read the rest of this entry »