Pastoral Ponderings—Citius, Altius, Fortius

Pastoral Ponderings—Citius, Altius, Fortius

I don’t know if I love the Olympics more for the incredible feats of human determination, resilience, hope and accomplishment, or more for the celebration of the best of the human spirit that it brings out in people, displayed for all the world to see. Citius, altius, fortius—faster, higher, stronger—the slogan and goal of Olympians of all stripes. All of these facets exude from these events in a plethora of ways (gotta use those fun words every once in a while!), and yes, occasionally some of the uglier facets of broken humanness sometimes come out as well, but it’s the positive facets that really shine.

Winning is great—but it’s when the competitors DON’T win that I think they shine brightest. Though with the highest of pressure, have you seen how so many of the competitors keep things in perspective and just shrug it off when they don’t make the score? And it’s pretty common, too, for those who have been defeated to hug and congratulate those who have outpaced them!

“Momentum” is a word we’ve heard a lot in relation to these athletes—usually as a key to keeping up a winning pattern. But the momentum of the spirit of the games—often lauded as what makes these competitions so special—is also the same kind of momentum that can fuel the spirit of our faith as well.

It is both a spiritual and a physiological truth that the more we live out patterns of love, grace, and invitation, the more we build the momentum to make these patterns of faith our natural habit and habitus. Is it possible to have a winning momentum in faith? Is it possible to lead our spirits to soar citius, altius, fortius—as we seek to bless others in ever more powerful ways? Keep on keepin’ on in blessing and inviting others!

—Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings—Podcast Wisdom

My youngest, Kaz, had been helping me get a little more up to date and exploring podcasts—which, for the uninitiated, are series of discussions from people on-line that can cover any area of interest, anywhere from just a few minutes long, to “long form,” that can be an hour or more. My favorite thus far is Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown.

She became well-known as a comedy actress, first as a kid with “Blossom,” and more recently on “The Big Bang Theory,” but despite that, her schooling is as a neuroscientist. And not only that, but one just as committed to scientific skepticism as she is to her vital Jewish faith. While her podcast covers a wide range of interests from that neurological perspective, often focused on human wellness and thriving, she also has frequen explorations into the convergence of science and spirituality. Needless to say, that’s right down my just slightly nerdy alley! The other I’ve been trying to listen to more is skeptic.pastor Jeremy Steele, who, as you may have recently heard more locally, thinks God is big enough to handle and not be threatened all our doubts and questions

I usually get the joy of listening on long drives, especially late at nite when the rest of the crew is sleeping, so not complaining about my eccentric interests. On this most recent late night drive, I was listening to both these podcasts with an amazing convergence—though coming from very different perspectives, in effect, describing the Spirit of God in That Which Is Bigger, and all-encompassing, and finding the heart of our spiritual life in how we can connect, and grow in our connection with this Bigger Spirit.

Even from a hard science neurological, skeptical perspective, that brings up and can’t deny the hard science in support of the importance and power of spirituality in our daily and social lives.

AND both from their differing perspectives, pointing out that all of us in human skin–despite our many and deep differences—can find a shared commonality and respect in our mutual connectedness with this Bigger Spirit– what can variably be referred to as our “Higher Power,” “the Divine,” or what many us call “God.” One of them even referred to that passage in Acts 17 where St. Paul is quoting—thus bringing into our Christian scriptural understanding of Truth- ancient Greek pagan understandings that “in Him, we all live, move and have our being,” and “for we all also are His offspring.”

SO WHAT? You might ask… It’s tools like these that can help us both deepen our own faith, while at the same time, giving us tools to better connect with those who might otherwise thing that church folk need to check their brains at the door. Nothing could be further from the truth! (and it can also help keep us awake and alert on late night drives!)

Check them out—feed your brains and your spirits—and build bridges of hope with those who might otherwise be stuck in hopelessness! – Pastor Jim

https://www.bialikbreakdown.com/ ; https://jeremy-steele.com/