"Mystery isn't something that you cannot understand..."

The conversations in and around the denomination that I serve (United Methodist) are complex and, at times, frustrating. I expect that 7 billion people will have different conclusions/positions on the issues of the day. I was prepared for that since the times I would be in an argument with my brother as a child who each saw "what happened to the lamp" much differently (no matter what you hear, I did not throw the ball!) What throws me off is the relationship to mystery that we have. 

As a teenager, I came across a VHS tape of the cult classic movie "Clue". The 1980's were bold. If you are among the odd people who, like me, has seen this movie you may recall there is not an ending to the movie. For those who have not seen the movie, I should clarify - it has more than one ending. Like I said, bold.

left to right: Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren), Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull), Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn), Mr. Green (Michael McKean), Wadsworth (Tim Curry), Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), and Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan)

The end of "Clue" is what you might call a mystery - the irony is not lost on the filmmakers that a 'who done it" movie leaves you wondering "who did done it?" It is not a mystery because you don't know the end but it is a mystery because there is more than one ending. 

(Insert smooth pivot and classy theological language here so the reader makes the transition from a weird movie to spiritual formation...) 

Richard Rohr's book, Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation, has a great little line near the beginning of the book about mystery:

"Remember, mystery isn't something that you cannot understand - it is something that you can endlessly understand! There is no point at which you can say, "I've got it." Always and forever, mystery gets you!"

Part of why so many people are captured by the movie and board game of "Clue" is the mystery. It is not the one answer, but the endless answers to the question of "who done it?" that draw people in until it "gets you!"

(Head nod to the reader that they are smart enough to see how this relates to God.)

To my fellow sisters and brothers in my believed UMC, let us remember that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are mystery not because we cannot understand them but because we can endlessly understand them! There is not one interpretation of scripture that is "it". There is not one version of the Bible that is "it".

My heart aches not when we disagree but when we reduce a mystery to something that we cannot know and thus become content with the first answer that "feels right."

There is more than one ending to this story.

You Are Telling Your Story Wrong

Being able to tell others your story is of who you are and where you come from is a standard human exercise. We tell our stories when we are dating someone or even applying for a job. The more I listen to people the more it is clear to me that people are amazing, but are really not very good at telling their stories. 

Stringing a collection of events together in a chronological order is not telling your story, it is giving a personal resume. Resumes are nice and all, but they are not your story. 

Recently I sat with three other clergy friends and we each shared our stories. As I listened to each of them share, it is clear to me that these guys are preachers - they can tell their story as a story and not a resume. Here is what I mean.

Your story is more than a collection of snapshots...

When you tell your story, you need to remember that you will be leaving many parts of your life out. It it not possible to share your many years of experiences and how they shaped you in anytime less than the number of years it took you to live them. Since every story you share about yourself is a bit reductionist, you need to pick a strand of your experience. For instance, you may pick the strand that you are a person who has always sought others approval or perhaps you are a person who never feels comfortable in your skin. 

Once you have that strand, share individual episodes from your life that give that strengthen that strand. Tell the time you dated someone just because your friends like them. Or how you generally take a couple of deep breathes before going into a room just to remind yourself that you belong.

As the strand is made stronger, then you are able to share a time or two when you acted differently than you have been sharing. Tell the time you told your friends to shove it or when you stood in front of the crowd and sang karaoke. These "counter examples" layer the complexity of who you are to the listener so they know you are not one dimensional.  

These little approaches to sharing your story not only are more disciplined but they are also more engaging to listen to thus creating changes to ask further questions. As questions are asked your story is now a conversation which you can invite the others to share their story. 

The next time you are in a conversation and someone asks "who are you?" I invite you not to share a resume. Share your story. You are more than just a collection of events. You are a beautiful beloved child of God with more complexity and layers that you are overlooking by just sharing events.

People of the altar in a ladder world

The art and iconography around the dream is remarkable and captivating. In case you are not up to date on all things in the book of Genesis, Jacob has a dream of angels going up and down on a ladder that connects the heavens and earth. This scene, sometimes discussed as “Jacob’s ladder” is one of those stories where we one detail catches our eye and we focus in on it. For instance, there is the question that if angels were climbing this ladder, then why wouldn’t they just use their wings and fly?

There is a Midrash story that uses the ladder to talk about what it means to be a “good Jew”. A student asks a teacher what it takes to be a good Jew and the teacher says to look at Jacob’s ladder. The teacher says the ladder has 613 rungs, one rung for each of the commandments in the Torah. Some would say that a good Jew is the one who is standing on rung #613 and a bad Jew is standing on rung #1. This is incorrect, says the teacher. It is not the location but the direction one is climbing that indicates if you are a good Jew or not.

Perhaps we are fascinated with the ladder because we live in a ladder world. We are focused on succeeding and climbing the ladder of success that we spend our time figuring out how to not get stepped on while we climb.

Notice, however, that in the dream once Jacob sees God, there is no longer any attention given to the ladder. In fact, while Jacob is looking at the ladder, God is standing right next to him. While Jacob is trying to unlock the secrets of the ladder, God is standing right next to him! Let those with ears hear…

When Jacob wakes up, notice what he does – he builds and altar and pours oil on it. The altar is the symbol that calls attention to the reality that God is here all along and we had not known. In this moment, Jacob gave up on the ladder and became an altar person.

When we are in ministry with the world, we might be wise to take stock in ways that we are ladder people: constantly moving, trying to save everyone we can, and figuring out how to move up or down the ladder. Rather than the ministry of the ladder, we might be called to be of the ministry of the altar: pointing out where God is, giving witness to what God is already doing and get in on what God is doing.