Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus

[ Isenheim Altarpiece , Matthias Grunewald (painted 1506-1515)]

SANCTUS, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.

HOLY, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Some of the most prophetic works of art given us by the Medieval Period were numerous alter pieces. Most of these elaborate STORIES were created for churches that were popping up all over Europe in the last days of the Great Plague and the Spanish Inquisition, preceding the co-emergence of the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment. Some were designed to be portable—so that the picture story of the Risen Lord could be transported to rural communities and hamlets across the coalescing city-states. They were deemed to be HOLY religious objects, as sacred as the ancient relics.

In great contrast is our culture today. Very little, in developed nations, is held as sacred or holy. Almost everything has been reduced to the lowest common denominator—from language to faith, beauty to vocabulary (dude), commitment to individual integrity. About the only commodity to rise above our daily banality are experiences that pump the adrenalin and give us a momentary spurt of ecstasy. We are not, in general, given over to the Holy in any natural way.

So I ask you, no matter your faith, non-faith, or business ethics— What do you hold as Holy? What do you consider to be precious, sacrosanct, or hallowed? What days or celebrations or individuals do you revere as most sacred? If your reply is nothing, then you have placed yourself on a very unstable pedestal. If your answer points to things, BMWs, Caribbean cruises, promotions, or notoriety, for example, then your enjoyment will be short lived; though, truly, it will of-a-truth be pleasurable.

What entity, in and of itself, deserves to be held in highest esteem in our lives? Integrity, honesty, bravery, truthfulness, innocence, purity? What of beauty, creation, sacrifice, devotion or unwavering commitment? Does your faith compel you to hold anything above all others as holy, set apart, or sacred?

However you answer, please, keep yourself in a proper place and embrace something outside your great, mediocre, or small life to be truly Holy. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.

Have a nice week,

Gary

EmPulse for Week of December 27, 2010

you can’t get there from here

Road maps. Signs. MapQuest. Garmin. TomTom. Google Maps. Travel guides. Why is it that, no matter how strictly we follow them, we still get lost? The first time we visited a friend in New England he sent me a map with the “most-direct-route.” MOST DIRECT ROUTE?!? “…take a sharp right onto the dirt road that goes around the cow pasture toward Rupert Dump Road. Turn left past the dump.” I thought he was kidding. He wasn’t. Now that we live in New England we understand the phrase—  you can’t get there from here, and its corollary—you don’t want to go there.

There are many road signs whose intent is to guide us to our destination, sometimes, even efficiently (baring traffic and the occasional herd of cows). Road maps are printed in most locations to reflect accurately what actually lies out there, on the real-road. The same is true for spiritual guides—  the Christian Bible, Islam’s Quran, the Hindu Vedas (vaidika dharma) and their Bhagavad Gita, even the Analects, a collection of Confucius’ teachings compiled by his students. In more recent times there seems no end to self-help guides, seminars on success, personal awareness, cleansing the soul, overcoming just-about-anything, executive management, home management, dealing with teenagers, etc. All these—  road maps & signs to help us along the way.

But how do we decide which guidebook or self-help course will work best for us? How do we decide which ones are genuine, which ones are fads, fakes, or just plain exploitive scams? History doesn’t offer much clarification; every world religion, every self-help course, has, at one time or another, gone very astray. So where can we verify that one course or guidebook is better or more true than any of the others? Might I suggest an examination of their polar representations. First, look at the origin, their founding documents—  what was the character of the person who founded the religion, pioneered the movement, or laid down the “primary principles” to which its later adherents would dedicate their lives. Secondly, examine the contributions the followers of these creeds or philosophies have made to our world. How have they contributed to the good of mankind? What have they done to alleviate our world’s pain, feed its hungry, or to bring about peace? In what ways have they made a difference? These religions, or movements, or courses, will most likely have more to offer as you dig deeper into their inner workings. AND, you will, somewhere along the line, start to light up about their life-principles. If you don’t, well, you’re probably on the wrong road. Time to back-track, get a better map, follow a different route.

And try not to get m-o-r-e lost. Maybe you just need to bring a Navigator alongside. You can get there from here. But it is going to take some exertion on your part.

 

Have a nice week,

Gary

Dear Fellow Deep-Freezers,
Unless you live south of the Equator you have just lived through one of the coldest pre-winters on record. Cold enough for you yet!?! As the temperature outside drops into the teens & the snow continues to fall I want you to picture me sitting in our “fire-room,” feet resting on an ottoman, in front of a glowing wood stove fire. It’s the ONLY way to handle winter’s deep freeze.
We’ve seen a lot of changes around NEED’s ministry over this past year. We have definitely moved deeper into the forest of our postChristian community. No less than one-half of our time is spent challenging, debating, and counseling with people who never have a Christian thought. They find it somewhat curious that a genuine Christian, who actually believes in absolute truth, right and wrong, and a God-Who-Created can even exist in the midst of their society. When I tell them that Christ can give them a life they could never imagine, they usually respond, “You’re right… . I can’t imagine it!”
Therefore, we are re-gearing our efforts to connect with a wider community of Christian and postChristian people. Even NEEDNEWS is giving way to newer forms of communication. Our WEBsite grows it’s audience daily. EmPulse, our weekly brain-teaser designed more for our secular audience, is being referred to people with whom we have no prior contact . What a sur-prise! And my personal relationships in Amherst, MA continue to deepen among those who are definitively NOT Christian. Our levels of conversation about the Christian faith still amazes me. One 31 year old grad-student wonders that I journey with him and don’t judge him. I merely tell him that God is the judge of us all. He’s not sure about that. Yet.
PARADIGM LOST: Christians living in a post Christian culture, is being scrutinized by the cohesiveness editor and near publication…, finally.
One of the purposes of this end-of-year letter is not only to update you on NEED’s minis-try, but also to seek your financial support for our ongoing efforts to make a difference in the emerging field of culturally sensitive evangelism. Simply put, we need to learn the language of the people we are trying to reach with the Gospel. NEED trains believers how to do just that. To continue to do so requires financial supporters like you. Please, in these very difficult times of re-cession, consider a financial gift to this ministry that will make a difference. I promise we will use it with Godly graciousness and New England frugality.

Merry Christmas
Gary
Dr Gary Davis
President

EmPulse for Week of December 20, 2010

of coarse…

Sense and Sensibility, Remains of the Day, The Scarlett Pimpernel, even Surprised by Joy…, all bespeak of another era, another time when courtesy, refinement, gentility, and chivalry were the fabric of society. There existed a decorum that pervaded cultured civilization. It was assumed that a man would open a door for a lady, that he would pull back her chair for her to be seated. It was commonplace for children to show respect to their parents, their elders. A gentleman’s hand was his word. But two World Wars, an unresolved Korean conflict, the dissolution of the safety found in traditional families, and the rise of moral deconstructionism has changed all that. Gentility is viewed as pretense, refinement as metro-sexual, and chivalry as simply ridiculous. Common courtesy has been supplanted by a cultural crudeness that drags most of western society to its lowest common denominator.

We live in a exceptionally coarse culture. Clothing styles appear to have lost any semblance of modesty, especially among teenagers. The workplace has become so casual that some places are instituting dress-up Mondays. No one would ever think of writing a formal Thank you note; just text it. The English language, even among Americans, has succumbed to a montage of mispelings, run-on sentences, and a grammar from hell. [Not to mention texting-shortcuts (omg, lol, lyao).]

Vulgarity in the arts (theater, film, paintings & sculpture) seems to have sunken to further degradation. Not that this is new; rather, its offensiveness continues to strive to surpass itself. As evidence I offer the photograph accompanying this commentary. It is titled Piss Christ. The photograph, measuring roughly 3’x 5’, is of a plastic crucifix submerged in the artist’s own urine. It was part of a series of objects the artist submerged in milk, blood, & urine. This particular image, created by Andres Serrano (in 1987) was first displayed in 1989, and won the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art‘s “Awards in the Visual Arts” competition (along with the $15,000 prize), which is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

If ever there were a culture that needed redeeming it is ours. We have become a nation that has risen to its lowest moral point in history. Children born outside the protection of the marriage bond is accepted as normative. Marriages that last past 5 years, a curiosity. Business contracts are too oft full of loop holes or wiggle-room; hidden escape clauses, personal enhancement codicils.

What our culture needs are men and women who will stand firm for what is right, for what reflects the ethical/moral threads woven into our very being. Men who will be faithful to their families, with integrity in their business practices, and interpersonal relationships; women whose strength does not need a sexual overtone, who contribute to the strength of their communities, the workforce, and the world politic. We need people of faith who will live by the principles they say they believe in; who honor God and their fellow man as one act.

Honoring God and those around us is at our core. What is in yours?

Have a nice week,

Gary

EmPulse for Week of December 13, 2010

ice storm

Ice storms in New England are infamous! The snow storms are great, soft white, blanketing the countryside with peace & gentle tranquility. Albeit, in recent years, not deep enough for this writer. But the ice storms…, well. What’s the Simon & Garfunkel lyric? Slip-slidin’ away, slip-slidin’ away. It seems the nearer you’re destination the more you’re slip-slidin’ away. Ah the joys of four wheel drive! And even then… .

Unless you are a competent, experienced driver, ice storms pose a veritable threat to anyone on the road. Inexperienced drivers pose even more of a threat. Too frequently they assume driving on ice is only marginally different than driving in rain. Thus the predictable “first accident.” I recall one such ice storm found me returning home from Boston at night. The car to my right started skidding into my lane. I hit the brakes and immediately put my car into a 360 . I hit a snow embankment at about 40 mph, launching me, still spinning, into the air. Somehow I landed between two trees, suspended above a ditch, motor still running. “Interesting.” I thought. The reality that I might just have been killed never occurred to me. That dawned later; as did the realization that God had kept me alive for some weird, mysterious purpose.

Spinning around in the air in an ice storm will do a number of things to one’s psyche. So will the loss of a parent, or a child. Being unemployed for a long period of time will make you doubt your abilities, your worth, whether you have a purpose in life at all. Being fired from a job, be it your first employment as a teenager or as a long-standing COO or manager of a major corporation, can be devastating, and costly.

Establishing your foundational core on your vocation and employment can be as dangerous as  New England ice storm; slippery, unmanageable, with little time to react when things go out of control. It is better to frame your foundational core in something other than what you do for a living. Not things like human relationships—they too can be like an ice storm, and just as unpredictable; or stress-relieving techniques, that bring a mechanical, albeit genuine, yea, temporal, re-centering of your core. You know that will come back around on you again! Something more foundational, more primal.

Might I cautiously put before you that seeking a new depth with the God who made you just could be the most foundational foundation you’ll ever find. Notwithstanding the sins of the church and many of those who allege to be “Christian,” I have found my foundation in my friend, Jesus Christ. Where are you looking?

Fortifying and refining your core foundation will go a long way to help you stay the line and stay on course when the ice storms hit. Slip-slidin’ away.

Gary

EmPulse for Week of December 6, 2010

Actionable atheism

No, really…, there’s a lot to be said for atheism. Just think of it—

• No theological squabbles about which religion is the true one.
• Since there’s no after-life one only need be concerned for this life— so go for it! Go for it all!
• Morality is self determined (or a social agreement). There’s no reason to fear a future judgment.
• Friendships can come and go as utilitarian affairs. [Actually, sexual affairs should be considered as merely utilitarian as well.]
• Without a deity in the picture, self-reliance & self-determination are far simpler matters.

To be sure, though, there is a down side to atheism.

• Belief in God has merely been replaced by belief in non-god; which is an odd definer.
• Being concerned for just this life-span must view death as the final resting place. Whereas, from another viewpoint, death is the one aspect of life that does not fit in with the rest of life’s accomplishments, dreams, and aspirations.
• Morality, without an external reference point, like the Ten Commandments, the Code of Hammurabi, or the US Judicial System, becomes somewhat capricious, if not socially destructive and life threatening.
• Friendships more readily become utilitarian; the primary question being “What can I get out of it?” rather than striving for a deeper bond thru trust and transparency.
• Touting self-reliance and self-determination feels a tad arrogant for any species on one planet in one solar system in the myriad of galaxies that populate our universe. [No insightful thanks to “Man is the Measure of all Things“- Protagoras of Abdera ( c. 480-410 B.C.)]

Then there’s the question of what to celebrate? Christmas? NO. Chanukah? No. Thanksgiving? No. Definitely not Easter, or Ramadan, or Mahashivaratri.  Ah…, the Super Bowl. Fourth of July. Labor Day. There must be more.

Actionable Atheism, that is, atheism that effects the daily lives of its adherents, is tough to implement. It takes more work to NOT believe in God than to believe in Him. Sure, some scientists assert that someday science will be able to explain everything; but that is not the case as of this writing. It takes a great deal of faith to believe an assertion of that immensity. So what makes an ath

eist’s faith in someday any different than a Christian’s faith in someday soon, or in the God who is There? Let’s not rewrite history or reinvent the future just yet.

Have a nice week.

Gary

EmPulse for Week of November 29, 2010

circadian oscillation
Daily life-patterns are a facinating thing. We all live by them with little thought. We get up in the morning, head for the coffee, or brush our teeth, or throw cold water on our face. Some of us are in a daze for the first hour: others, up ‘n at ‘em! I had some friends who were circadian opposites. Keith would get up and announce, “Good morning God!” Rusty would follow with “Good god, morning.” Where’s the coffee?

Circadian rhythms (literally, around-the-day, or clock) vary from person to person. Most species on the planet move in response to the celestial dawning of light. Light serves as a trigger to get us moving. Some of us are more productive in early morning (diurnal); others of us don’t click in ‘till noon, or two, or even after dusk (nocturnal).

There are many factors that affect our daily rhythms. The second most influential is circadian oscillation— our biological clock’s responses to changes in our environment, especially seasonal changes. Depression runs rampant in winter seasons when the earth is further from the sun, lessening our exposure to it’s light. Warmer climates require adjustment for snow-lovers, and vise-versa. Spring promises new life and growth. Fall, though vibrant, heralds the coming of winter, along with its psychological, indoor isolation.

Both daily rhythms and seasonal rhythms affect our abilities, internally and externally, to perform at our peak. So when you feel a lack of motivation, no interest in life, and a general lack in energy, it could be a factor of circadian oscillation. (It could also be a chemical spiral into depression. Get it checked out!) The same oscillations can wreck havoc with our spiritual lives as well. Feeling far from God? It could be seasonal. Of course, it could also mean that you are the one who has distanced him/herself from God. The point is that none of us are truly, level, unruffled, steady, consistent people. Life is full of little surprises that throw us off-kilter. One of my governing axioms has been, in mathematical terms— Constants aren’t: variables won’t. Meaning, things don’t always work the way they’re supposed to.

The point is that ultimately we are not in charge. To be sure, there are many things in life which fall under our control, but not all. And that is the way it should be. We are part of something so much bigger, much grander than ourselves. So being a team player becomes a critical imperative. Forming relationships with those who hold different skill-sets than yours, and being able to hear the criticism of others, is tantamount. When your spirit is down, find someone whose spirit is UP! You need them NOW. Do Not forget to reciprocate!

Our Creator designed us all differently, partly to reflect His multi-faceted personality, partly to force us to form meaningful relationships with one another (and, as a corollary, with Him). We are all truly part of something greater than ourselves—the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Get used to it. Learn to trust one another, to depend upon one another, even to depend on the God who made you.

Have a nice week.

Gary

EmPulse for Week of November 22, 2010

no thanks

‘Tis the season to be thankful; to accept the invitations to dinner, parties, and celebrations of all kinds. Americans have Thanksgiving, as do Canadians (a month earlier), the Chinese their August Moon Festival, the Brits their Harvest Festival, and the Koreans, Chu Suk. Of the countries that celebrate a day of “thanks” most direct their thankfulness to the heavens, to a god or gods that they consider the source of their bounty.

Nonetheless, hidden among our masses, across cultural lines, are those select few who have a serious problem with being thankful. Some believe that everyone must pull themselves up by their own boot-straps, to be dependent upon no one. This group also has difficulty with giving. They are subtle isolationists, unable to give without serious calculation, if at all. Others are more cautious with their finances; saving for a rainy day, storing up as much as possible—because you never know when catastrophe might hit. There are also those who simply do not believe in giving, period. They have no reason to not give; they just don’t. It’s a matter of principle, they say. To this day I have no idea which principle that might be.

Then there are some who do not like to receive charity. [charity ¹ love] They see it as a hand-out, a bribe for some future favor; accepting a gift, an invitation to dinner, whatever, would place them in a position of being beholdin’ to another, like an un-tethered prisoner. Even-Steven, that’s the way it should be. I keep what’s mine, you keep what’s yours. We need those fences to keep things in proper perspective. Receiving a gift, an invitation to dine out, a service of any kind, implies that I am less, and that the Giver is more. I lack something that someone else provides. This threatens my self-esteem as deeply as any caustic criticism or slanderous comment. Or, maybe they’re just sucking up to me in hopes of a future favor from me? What a way to live!

What is it with us that we find it difficult to give or receive from someone else!?! And to receive a big gift, a grand act of generosity, why that’s just an insult.

Research (for example- http://www.cignabehavioral.com/web/basicsite/bulletinBoard/effectsOfHumanKindness.jsp ) has shown that people who give, and graciously receive, live longer, fly freer in their spirit, and are more full of LIFE than those who cloister themselves away in self-insulating safety zones. In most cases, these people have a rich relationship with the God who made them; they live their lives in deep appreciation for all He has given them (or so they believe).

I encourage you to take a RISK—receive a gift for what it is, a gift. Do not look for hidden strings or agendas, just accept it, no matter if it is a Gerbil or a Jaguar (the car, not the cat). And be thankful.

I also encourage you to GIVE— not to feel good about your act, but because it is right, decent, and purely generous. Do it solely to honor the other, without seeking any recognition other than Thank you. In so doing you honor the God who made you and set fear and greed on their heads.

So, thank you. That’s just the way it is.

Have a nice week.

Gary

EmPulse for Week of November 15, 2010

size matters

The innuendos’ of the catch-phrase size matters run the gamut. It has been found on billboards, advertizing new mini-computers, on coasters, prompting us to try a new beer with a richer head, and even on local charter air services that provide the only way to reach some of the Caribbean islands. It’s a wonder the Cooper Mini hasn’t sued the world.

In the world of Business, size matters: the larger the conglomerate, the more resources available to throw at a problem and produce a viable product:  or, in the smaller company, with a more efficient and specialized the workforce, refinement and dedication find their greatest recognition. In Art we find a gargantuan colossus like Leonardo da Vinci’s Horse ;  or the truly diminutive IBM logo impressed on a minuscule plate of electrons. And in Medicine we run the gamut from genetic manipulation to organ replacement. Size matters.

Size matters with people too. Taller men tend to get higher level jobs. Petite women are viewed as frail, needing some form of masculine protection. (Don’t ever refer to my wife as the little woman, if you value your life). The obese are thought of as lazy, unintelligent, couch-potatoes. Too skinny? You have an eating disorder.

When it comes to personalities the stereotyping gets even worse; extroverts are emotionally immature, introverts- thinkers, reflective. Shy people have no personality; BIG people are insensitive to the feelings of others. Quiet people might be considered smart, or devious. Boisterous types- full of themselves, arrogant, and definitely insecure. All of us know somebody who fits in some category of personality typing. Eh?!? And, to be sure, some people are truly unpleasant, if not impossible, to be around. Ugh!

The point is this— if you are a quiet person, why is that? What are you afraid of? What keeps you inside yourself? If you are LARGE…, ever consider being smaller? You might make space for those around you who are quieter that you never even notice. [Confession—  My wife’s entreaty to me for years has been Be smaller.] It’s not that we all have to do a 180° and become someone we’re not. But just a little concession to the personality, to the size, of the other person, or business, or nation, can go a long way to building trust, relationship, and a future.

End-thought—  What kind of concessions do you think God our Creator makes every day, to put up with us?!?

Have a nice week.

Gary

NON-emPulse Check-in—  November 14, 2010

Quarter Century Quatrain

It’s early. Today finds me on a flight to Las Vegas to take actionable steps to solve NEED’s budget crisis. Not really. I’m heading west to work with one of our Board members there for a few days. And I don’t like Vegas! So don’t think I’m going off to play, to have fun in the sun. Just not like that.

But as our flight clears the horizon, which is quite clear at this hour, it hits me that this is the 25^th anniversary of the founding of NEEDinc. Has it been that long? It’s gone by so fast. It seems just yesterday that Starr and I were sitting on the floor of our living room with Steve and Lori Zarichniak musing about the need for a truly culturally sensitive approach to evangelism; one that would be culturally specific, regionally specific, and generationally appropriate as well.

Most Evangelical Christian evangelism of the time was methodological in nature, using some form of a four point outline, which the Christian would read through (sensitively, of course) as a “witness” to the nonChristian. Having done their duty, the Christian would move on or pray the sinners prayer with the new believer and invite them to some form of Christian meeting. It was the moving on part that always bothered me. It seemed so impersonal.

1985 was an intriguing year—WE ARE THE WORLD was recorded in Hollywood, Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Commodore launched the Amiga Personal Computer (PC), “NEW COKE” was released, as was the revolutionary FORD Taurus, and Robert Ballard finally found the wreckage of the TITANIC. Of little note in 1985 was the incorporation of New England Evangelism Development— NEEDinc, on November 14^th.

In 1989 we started our first international training efforts with consulting in India and Mexico. In 1990, we spread our ideas across America and Canada through the Arrow Leadership Ministries of Leighton Ford and Carson Pue. Since then NEED has worked to help Christians learn to express their faith in culturally appropriate ways in China, the UK, Australia, and Latin America. We continue to minister not only with individual churches and groups across New England, but also larger Christian bodies—United Presbyterians, Episcopalians, InterVarsity, through numerous seminary lectureships, and online publications. [Check out our WEBsite- www.needinc.org].

We are just about to release a new book titled—PARADIGM LOST: Christians living in a postChristian culture, dealing with the difficulties we will face as we attempt to communicate our faith to a clueless for Christ society.  Six courses are in process of becoming an internet video training series of 4-6 hours each, with three more in the wings. [ALL at our WEBsite.]

We reached our lifetime goal of helping 600 churches come to grips with the new approaches to evangelism necessary to meet the mindsets of postModerns at year eight. Since then, I come across our ideas almost everywhere I land; somebody knows somebody, who knew somebody who attended a training course a year ago and… . Exactly how we wanted it to happen!

So if you were wondering if NEEDinc has made a difference; well, let’s put it this way—we’re not done yet. Twenty-five years and counting.

Truly humbled by a Holy God!

Gary