I recently gathered with some folks to discuss the concepts outlined in Neighborhood Church, Transforming Your Congregation into a Powerhouse for Mission, a book I coauthored with Rob Mueller. I crafted this video to set the stage for that conversation. Here is its text as well as a link to view the short film online.
We can’t be sure, but it seems that what we call religion is a uniquely human response to life. We are steeped in this mystery of our existence. We glimpse it in the eyes of a newborn child, we hear it in the intricate trills of a songbird, we view it in the unfolding of a flower, we sense its majesty while standing beneath the Milky Way as light from distant stars and galaxies that has traveled millions of light years reaches our eyes.
Thousands of years ago, a shepherd turned king named David, wrote these immortal words, addressed to his tribal God called Yahweh. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are humans that you are mindful of them?”
And there it is. That word. Mindful. No matter what faith we practice, billions of us across this fragile planet have sought to make sense of the mystery, to become more mindful of this presence we have called God, the Tao, Great Spirit, Holy of Holies. We have written what we consider sacred texts. We have crafted creeds and confessions whose truth we insist upon. We have fashioned elaborate houses of worship and filled them with statues, icons, and relics. We have devised sacraments to be practiced only by those adhere to our given version of the truth.
But aren’t love and unity among all people, all tribes, all faiths the most precious responses to the big questions of life? As we consider how many different communities of faith gather on the face of this earth to wrestle with the mystery, think of this. What if each of them was primarily concerned with expanding their love for all people, not just their own clans? What if they sought out partnerships in their communities that promote the common good for every child born of a human mother and father? What if justice and mercy were what motivated them, not self-preservation?
There are many proven ways to become more mindful of this higher purpose. And today we will look at a few of them together.
Krin Van Tatenhove - Words & Images 