School for Conversion

I have not been practicing the spiritual discipline of blogging for a while. This means I’ve thought about a lot of things, but haven’t written much down or processed it. So, pardon any rambling or incoherence.

Starting Edible Lawns has been a wonderful adventure. I’ve learned a lot about what’s possible and what it means to make a living and a life. I’m really really lucky to be faced with choices that involve multiple things that I would love and none involving cubicles or desks. Although nothing is official yet, Edible Lawns may be on hiatus soon while we take off on other adventures. That dream will not be dead, but waiting for our return.

This past weekend I helped lead and participate in a School for Conversion hosted by our community, Hope Fellowship. It was a good time to wrestle with tough questions about living the way of Jesus with others. I reflected on my own conversions, times my mind has been changed, paradigms shifted and assumptions challenged. Here’s some of my thoughts from the weekend and the accumulated life I’ve not been processing therapeutically out loud for the masses.

One of my pet peeves about new monasticism is the mark of “Relocation to Abandoned Places of Empire.” I’ve written about that before. The thought came up again this weekend. We even did a thought experiment trying to figure out what it would look like to embody the radical way of Jesus in the suburbs. That was fun.

I’m working on a post about our session on “Resisting the Powers” and reorienting our lives around embodying kingdom values. Resistance is not absent but a byproduct of our life together. More on that soon…

The implications of privilege on our theology and thinking is a messy and complicated thing. It’s not that I, as a white american protestant, have no right to an opinion or even a need to practice my faith and do good theology. The problem is that my privilege is an ongoing stumbling block in my own efforts to do theology and live the way of Jesus. Recognizing this is difficult and frustrating. It requires some humble submission to the other. Still struggling through that one. Probably should write something.

I have some interesting reflections on the nature of mission that concern our next adventure. I’ll write about that when it’s official. Meanwhile experience your own conversion while watching this wonderful video of the treasure that is Bill Mallonee singing Resplendent with the ineffable Emmy Lou Harris .