True of False?

I've had discussions with folks recently about some stuff I've been reading. Does the mainline church attract young people so entrenched in the System that we can't lead the church outside the box? Are we "old" in our mindset? Or is the System so daunting it causes us to conform and become them?

Thank God for Title IX

Our Women's National Soccer Team play a semifinal game tonight in China versus Brazil. If they win, they advance to the final game Sunday morning. Bet you probably had no clue about that. And that is really too bad. The Women's World Cup has provided some incredible athleticism, drama, and excitement. ESPN decided to carry the games live from China which mean they are on in the middle of the night, not convenient for most of us. But thanks to TIVO, my husband and I have been able to keep up with how Women's soccer continues to grow and thrive around the world.
Our Women's team is no longer as dominant as they used to be-- and that's a good thing. While I want to see them clean up in China, I also thank God for those who were courageous enough to vote for Title IX in 1972. Don't know what Title IX is? Here are the historic words that helped women in sports: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." This caused Universities and colleges, and eventually High schools to provide more opportunities for girls/women to play sports. I benefited from this when I was in High school as a softball player. We never had the school funds/ respect that the boys baseball program did, but that did not keep us from having fun and getting the chance to play a game we loved. There are still schools working hard to not have to comply with Title IX, and that is a shame. But it is in part due to our (the fans) inability to appreciate and support women in sports beyond tennis, gymnastics and figure skating. The WNBA has a fragile base of support...but they've managed to stick around thanks to the NBA.
The bottom line? There's still a prevalent bias that women can't bring game the way men do. Obviously they've not watched Abby Wambach, Birgit Prinz, Marta, Kristine Lilly....the list goes on..... They are the best team/players you've never known....
Title IX made a lot of things possible for women of my generation. I'm grateful for that. But I still see the justice issues that lie ahead for the next generation of young women. Good luck Team USA!

The Sacrament of Silence

I'm without an administrative assistant this week...so my office has been silent.
It made remember this beautiful prayer by Howard Thurman.

In the silence, O God, You constantly surround our growing life.

We know You in the silence of the healing wound, the muteness of tenderness, the quiet growth within the sleeping child, the unspoken bonds uniting friend and friend, the still intensity of meditation, the soundless splendor of our changing seasons.

We know You in the sacred silence of our bodies: the secret movement of the hidden cells, the noiseless restoration of the tissues’ balance, the unheard ebb and flow within each artery and vein.

We know You in the magic silence of our minds: the mystery of memory, retaining afterimages of childhood, youth, and later years; the miracle of imagination, whereby we behold our visions of the city unattained; the marvel of attention, when the mind is focused to absorption on some needful task.

We know You in the hidden silence of our hearts: the never uttered depths of love between a man and a woman, a teacher and a student, a parent and a child; the art of being altogether for another; the faith restoring fact that someone else is utterly for you.

We know You in the fateful silences of faith. We know You in the sacrament of silence.

Drive-through church

hat tip to Nicole!

So funny...

Click on the image to read it...Candorville is very funny! Enjoy!

a different rhythm...

One of the values of the academy for spiritual formation program was living into the rhythm of the community. I liked the rhythm of worship, fellowship (food), silence, holy conversation. Made me think more about the ordinary rhythm of life. I really like the rhythm of summer when Joel is out of school and life is a little bit less hectic.
Tomorrow the students arrive in his classroom. A new school year will begin. The summer rhythm gone. The school year rhythm begins.
He's a GREAT teacher--not only does he teach young ones, he teaches me stuff all the time. The world is so much better because he's a public school teacher. He needs to be in his element, where he thrives with students and colleagues alike. (I am proud of him, there's no doubt!)
And yet, I am grieving a bit...the freedom of having him around to go and play when I have a few minutes. The gift of seeing things disappear off the "to-do" in our lives. The model of sabbath that he teaches me by relaxing into the ordinary routine of summer.
When I was a kid, I loved going back to school. Weird, huh? But now I experience a taste of that grief that comes with the school bell tomorrow.
I pray for teachers and administrators who are called to the vocation of teaching. I pray for students and their families. I give thanks for the gift and freedom we enjoy that education comes with the freedoms of our citizenship. Sad but blessed... at least I don't have to do math.