MBCC Blog

Book Group: Margin by Richard Swenson

Date: Friday, January 26
Time: 6:00-9:00 w/Dinner
Location: Bruce and Robin's
Book: Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives
Author: Richard A. Swenson
Contact/RSVP: Pastor Bruce
Please join us for another evening of conversation about life and faith. There are six copies of the book available at MBCC for $11.50.

Book Description:
RX: FROM THE DESK OF RICHARD A. SWENSON, M.D. Overload is not having time to finish the book you're reading on stress. Margin is having time to read it twice. Overload is fatigue. Margin is energy. Overload is red ink. Margin is black ink. Overload is hurry. Margin is calm. Overload is anxiety. Margin is security. Overload is the disease of the 90's. Margin is the cure.

As a medical practitioner, Dr. Richard Swenson sees a steady stream of exhausted, hurting people coming into his office. A majority of them are suffering from an uncontrolled societal epidemic: living without margin.

Margin is the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits. It's something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations.

As a society, we've forgotten what margin is. In the push for progress, margin has been devoured. So we feel distressed in ill-defined ways. We are besieged by anxiety, stress, and fatigue. Our relationships suffer. We have unexplained aches and pains. The flood of daily events seems beyond our control. We're overloaded.

In Margin, Dr. Swenson provides a prescription against the danger of overloaded lives. Focusing on margin in four key areas-emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances-he offers an overall picture of health that employs contentment, simplicity, balance, and rest.

If you yearn for relief from the pain and pressure of overload, take a lifelong dose of Margin under the care of a specialist. The benefits of good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for God's purposes will follow you all your days.

T-Third Muni FREE rides

For those of you who have been waiting for the 3rd Street Muni Train to begin service, here is the official announcement.

All You Can Ride!
From January 13, 2007, through April 1, 2007, service on the T-THIRD line is free! Board at any station south of 4th & King.

Service Effective January 13, 2007
T-THIRD introductory service operates January 13, 2007, through April 1, 2007, weekends only, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every 20 minutes.

Service Effective April 7, 2007
New T line - Service changes on the N & J
15-Third service replaced by T-THIRD line and 9X
T-THIRD: The T line operates from Castro Station, down Market Street, around The Embarcadero and down Third Street to Sunnydale Avenue.
N-JUDAH: The N line will now terminate at the Embarcadero Station (not 4th & King)
J-CHURCH: During peak hours only, the J line terminates at 4th & King.
During regular hours it continues to terminate at The Embarcadero station.

Bus Routes Effective April 7, 2007
9X service is expanded to seven days a week, including evenings until
approximately 1am.
The 9X line is extended to run between Fisherman's Wharf and City College.
The 15 line is discontinued.
The 54-Felton will no longer run on Third Street, but will be re-routed along Newhall Street.

The New T-THIRD Stations:
4th & King
Mission Rock Street
UCSF Mission Bay <-----
Mariposa Street <-----
20th Street
23rd Street
Marin Street
Evans
Hudson/Innes
Kirkwood/LaSalle
Oakdale/Palou
Revere/Shafter
Williams
Carroll
Gilman
LeConte
Arleta
Sunnydale

Worship Series: Scheduled to Death

"Scheduled to Death: Finding God in an Overactive Life"

Have you ever felt a tad bit overwhelmed with life?  It seems like these days we are just walking Appointment Calendars with the layers upon layers of commitments to navigate: work, family, church, relationships, self-care, fun, and on and on.  So what do we do?  Do we try to escape?  Do we simply run away?  What about just pretending that we can handle it and somehow, someway it will all get better someday?  While these may seem like good option, a better strategy may be to discern how God is present and active in it all and how we may need to claim, adjust and transform our lifestyle choices.  Over the next month or so we will look at ways, theoretical and practical, but spiritual to better navigate the  complexities of todays culture of being over-scheduled.  Hope you can make room in your calendar to take part.

Series Details
CORE SCRIPTURE: Luke 8:22-25 - "Jesus Calms the Storm"

December 31
Main Question: What kind of "Calm" are we searching for?
We will look at issues around what exactly we think life should be like and why.  How much of our life is supposed to be storm-like?

January 7
Main Question: Can our craziness be filled with Joy?
We will look at what we hope to get out of the busyness and how/if the activities we engage in are God-driven or not.

January 14
Main Question: Staying sane, myth or reality?
We will explore ways for us to maintain some kind of realistic and faithful balance in our life.

On Christmas Eve

Something completely non-Christmas related, but a bit inspired by Christmas.

This morning as I stood in church singing carols, I noticed that I was on autopilot, distracted by screaming kids and new faces. But as I focused on the words of the carols and listened to Bruce's conversation with Evelyn and Elisa, I was reminded me that God calls us to two things above all else: to love and glorify God and to love one another. As Bruce ended his benediction, "It's all that easy and it's all that hard."

This evening I was reading a bit online and I came across this blog by Tony Campolo. I couldn't help but be disappointed by the strategic tone, the seeming us vs. them-ness of Campolo's blog. Normally I would love to analyze his post, and my response to it, to death. But today I'm so grateful for the respite, and grateful that God gave us two commandments that are at least easy to understand, even if they are hard to do.

Merry Christmas, everyone~

Could Santa be a Racist?

After reading both Christiana's and Bruce's well-balanced reflections below, I want to share some of my own thoughts about Santa...Actually, this particular idea was introduced to me a week or so ago by my co-worker.

Could Santa be a racist? In Holland, where much of the Santa myth originated, there is a long tradition of a black character named Zwarte Piet who is closely associated with Santa. This Dutch version of Santa relies on Zwarte Piet to punish children who have misbehaved. During Christmas, some Dutch men paint their faces black in honor of good old Piet, a practice reminiscent of minstrel shows in 19th/20th century America.

Surfing through the net, i noticed that the reactions against this Continental Santa vary considerably, ranging from the radical to the not-so radical. While many Dutch folk consider this a non-racist, harmless tradition, there are also many who are deeply hurt by this practice (read one mother's personal account).

What holds interest for me about Santa is what we can learn about ourselves--our beliefs, prejudices, values, etc.-- through the various meanings we attach to the multiple versions of Santa.

It appears to me that Santa is whatever we make Santa out to be. Santa can be only as good as we are...and just as bad.

the third place?

How about something not so Christmasy...
        So I have been reading this book called The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons and Other Hangouts at the Heart of Community. It has been a fascinating read. The premise of the book is that America is losing its “third place”; the places in between work and home where community is built. The author, Ray Oldenburg, obviously sees this as a bad thing. He opens the book discussing how America has become fragmented. Some of this fragmentation has happened as a result of poor planning on the parts of community developers. With centrally-located third places in short supply, people lose the opportunity to gather. We also points out the effects of suburbanization on the issue of third spaces. He quotes an observer who said that “A man works in one place, sleeps in another, shops somewhere else, finds pleasure or companionship where he can, and cares about none of these places”. While that assessment might be a little simplistic, there is some merit to the idea behind it.

       Enter the third place.

Oldenburg sees the third place as the cure for American society’s fragmentation. He lists several characteristics that all third places share. First, the third place puts people on neutral ground. By this, he means that it is a setting where people can come and go as they please without obligation. Inherent in this is a contradiction that Oldenburg himself points out: “we need a good deal of immunity from those whose company we like best”. The second trait is that they are a leveler. In a third place, every one is equal. People of differing social status come together without distinction, to put in perhaps too idealistic terms. Next, third places are spots where the main activity is conversation. Fourth, it is accessible and accommodating at almost anytime. Fifth, third places have “regulars”, people who are always in the place and add to the environment (think Norm on Cheers). Third places tend to have a low profile. They are usually in buildings that have been around for awhile. Finally, third places have the feeling of a home away from home.
        So the question I am left with is can the church be a third place. A book I read this summer, Transforming Congregational Culture by Anthony B. Robinson, discussed how there was a time in American history where the church was the focal point of community life. Of course, for the most part, it is not that way anymore. Still, I wonder whether the church was ever a third place. And then I wonder if it should be.
        Using Oldenburg’s criteria, it is hard to argue that the church is a third place. It isn’t exactly intended to be a place where people are on neutral ground, conversation isn’t really our primary activity, and most churches are pretty high profile (though one could easily drive right by MBCC and not realize you have passed a church). Still, I wonder if church should be a third place.

    Oldenburg’s assessment that third places are environments where we are “neutral” and distanced from others, I do think that the church can fill the other traits of a third place. What if church was a place where our primary activity was conversation? What if it did have a home away from home feel? What would change? In the fragmentation of our lives, could the church be the place where our greatest needs (the needs for love, acceptance, and community) are fulfilled? Well, I’ll save you some suspense and say that I think it should be. We are created to be in community with one another, but the tempo of our lives gives us little opportunity to stop and connect in a way where conversation is the focal point. Church should, in my humble opinion, be a place that is unlike any other place in our life. It should be counter cultural. Church should be a place where life slows down instead of having it be a place where more activities are added to our lives. While I disagree with

        It is strange that I have never really thought of church as a community building place. The places that I have typically gone to have community and have conversation as the focal point of activity have been bars and coffee shops. For the first half of my seminary career, we had a bar within the walking distance of the seminary called Ted’s. It was where me, my classmates, and our spouses all got together and talked about our week, talked about our jobs, talked about families, frustrations, theology, etc…in January it was closed and has not reopened. We no longer had a “go to” place and have since struggled to find regular places to be that get us both away from work and from home. We often refer to church as a worshiping community, but why is it not the place where we seek out genuine community?

        Just to add a bit of a theological edge to this, I look at Acts 2. The image of the early church is one where community is shared, people give to the needs of those in their community and people enjoy being together knowing that they have something real and profound in common. People’s needs were addressed, and I imagine it was more than just their physical needs that were being attended to. People need community. We need group identity. We need acceptance, affirmation, and we need love.

        So MBCC’ers, is our church a third place? Can it be? Should it be? What do we have going for us that makes us a third place? What do have working against us? Could MBCC be a third place in its community or are there other places within the vicinity of the church that could be third places where we should have a presence?

 

Santa, Elmo and Jesus

Inspired by Derrick's and Christina's posts , I have been doing quite a bit of surfing and I figured the pastor should weigh in on the whole "What do we do with Santa during Christmas?" question.  Ahhhh the burden of spiritual leadership ;-)

Get ready for some disappointment . . . [READ ON . . .]

Saint Nicholas and the Mall Santa

It’s our son’s first Christmas, and already the question of Santa has reared his bearded head. Not that Seth is worried about it – he is too busy pulling all the books from our shelves to notice. But Scot and I have begun to ponder how to address this oversize elf who has parked himself in the middle of the holiday. Of course, we would like to emphasize the spirit-filled aspects of Christmas. However, outside our family and MBCC, Santa will be everywhere.

Scot favors a hard-line approach: “Santa is a lie,” he declares. He is uneasy encouraging Seth to believe in an imaginary figure who has nothing to do with the actual Christmas story. He believes that Santa represents the most materialistic tendencies of the holiday.

I agree, but my approach is more moderate. I believed in Santa until I was about eight, and pretended to believe in him for a couple more years. I didn’t feel betrayed by the story, and have some very fond memories of opening stockings on Christmas morning with my family. (In the interest of full disclosure I must mention that Santa still visits my parents’ home, accompanied by the lesser known “Book Fairy,” who always leaves a novel wrapped in shiny green foil for everyone).

We have a lot of Santa questions to sort out in the coming years, but there is one thing I definitely WILL do, and one thing I definitely WILL NOT.

I WILL share stories about the original St. Nicholas with Seth. He was a Christian Bishop in the third century in what is now Turkey. Coming from a wealthy family, St. Nicholas used his money to give gifts to the poor, often anonymously. Obviously, the accuracies of the stories surrounding St. Nicholas can be questioned. But I find them richer and more thought-provoking than a fairy tale about a guy with a supersonic sleigh and a mutant reindeer. (See the Wikipedia article for more information).

I WILL NOT take Seth to visit a department store Santa. That ritual sets my teeth on edge. It highlights the worst of the materialism of Christmas. The store lures parents in by enticing their small children with the jolly man and a candy cane. Santa encourages the little darlings to ask for what they want, and implies that their requests will come true. And gee, the store just so happens to have the toys in stock upstairs. “If you really love your child, you will buy it,” the ritual hints.

If that wasn’t enough to keep me away from the mall in December, I’m not thrilled at being exposed to the germs that must be hovering around the line of waiting tots. If the prospect of catching a cold for Christmas didn’t bother me, then the guy wearing the red costume might. According to every program from Miracle on 34th Street to Nip/Tuck, the hired Santa cradling my child would be inebriated. . . or worse, if I am to believe my television.

Tacky rituals aside, I do hope that we can somehow maintain the actual Christmas story at the heart of Christmas. I am sure that we have our work cut out for us.

Christmas Happenings

If you are looking for some ways to get engaged in community this Christmas Season, here are a few events.  For more info, please click on the links back to the MBCC Website.

• 12/23 - MBCC Service Project at the Salvation Army
• 12/24 - AM Christmas Eve Service @ MBCC and Local PM Services
• Ongoing - Toy and Supply Drive for North Korean Orphanage
• Ongoing - Food Drive for SF Food Bank

Joy in the Midst of Sorrow

This Sunday, I had the opportunity to participate in a dialogue with the MBCC congregation about joy and the blessings in our lives.  It was a little unnerving to respond to questions in front of thirty people, especially when the conversation took an emotional turn.  I found myself a stumped at times.  After the discussion, of course, I thought of more intelligent answers I could have used.  I decided to take this opportunity to add a few thoughts to the topic, hopefully more carefully considered than before.   

“Can joy exist in the midst of sorrow?” One person asked. In response, I offered a brief version of the following story:

Several years ago, I was having a hard time at work.  We were in the midst of a controversy that would have a major impact on the organization.  We were also in financial straights, and as the Director, any decision I made would result in some of my employees being laid off.  I constantly worried about the problems, waking up each night to review options.  My dentist even diagnosed me with trench mouth, which is what soldiers get while they wait in fox-holes before the shooting begins.

In the midst of this conflict, I spent a long weekend with my husband, visiting his parents in Florida.  On Saturday, we spent the day at Gatorland, which is essentially an alligator zoo.  We entered the place through a giant plastic gator mouth, complete with pointy teeth.  In one corner of the park, we climbed a watch tower to look down over a slow moving river.  As we gazed down at the many rocks in the water, we realized that each rock was a gator – and the longer we looked, the more “rocks” we saw.  We were completely surrounded by thousands of the animals. 

When we walked by the enclosures of these powerful reptiles (essentially all muscle and teeth), they eyed us with the patience of a predator. “Just wait,” they were thinking, “One day that rail will break and then I will pounce on you in a second.” The entire place was campy, and the proximity of the gators created a frisson that was sort of like the thrill of watching a horror movie – danger close, but not personal.

Anyway, I digress.  Gatorland was so surreal that I forgot about my work problems.  It was nice to laugh and spend time with Scot.  It was the first time in weeks or months that I felt a sense of joy.  I knew that tough decisions and sticky negotiations awaited me on Monday, but I was able to put worry aside for the day. 

To be honest, I am afraid this story was a little superficial. (Do work problems qualify as sorrow?) Also, it's more about taking a break from a trial before jumping back into the fray.  Later, I thought of a time where joy and sorrow existed simultaneously for me in the same moment:

When I was in college, there was a betrayal between myself and a very good friend.  I am not going to give the details of the incident, or even reveal who caused the hurt in this instance.  The fight was a result of having a tight-knit friend group, where alliances shifted and the boundaries between friendship and romance were fluid.  It was also the last in a series of similar injuries we perpetrated on each other. 

Suffice it to say that the fight was a source of sorrow.  In the day, I lay in a city park, crying into the crook of my arm while people passed me on the footpath.  At night, tears ran into the bath water as I cried quietly, so as not to alert my family. 

My friend, wisely, insisted that our friendship was too important to destroy over this incident.  We agreed to spend time together to process.  The next Saturday, we drove to the coast and sat on a beach.  My friend brought homemade chocolate cookies, and we spent a very long time sitting, looking out at the ocean.  Occasionally, we tackled hard conversations, but most of the time, we sat in silence with our feet buried in the warm sand.  I remember sunlight sparkling on wide waves and the sweet taste of the cookies.  Sitting in quiet companionship, I felt a ray of joy piercing my sorrow. 

Years later, my friend is still very close, and an unquestionable blessing in my life.