Demotivational Devotional: Two Kinds of Invisible {day 3}
Pam Hogeweide
"We do magic tricks," says Ken Loyd, that white-haired pirate of a preacher who loves on the homeless men and women of Portland, Oregon. "We make the invisible become visible just by paying attention."

Ken is a friend to some of the city's most ignore citizens - those who live outside, aka the homeless. Ken has discovered, like my good friend Denie in Boise, Idaho, that simply giving time and friendship helps those who are forgotten and overlooked. It helps them mostly see themselves as the art of noticing inspires dignity among the undignified.

That's a crazy kind of invisibility, the kind of soul-bruising you-don't matter type of non-existence, like an inconsequential piece of litter lying on the sidewalk.

Homeless men and women are not the only ones to feel the rejection of invisibility. There are many sons and daughters in thousands upon thousands of families that are left to fend for themselves as mom and/or dad live deeply in self-involvement or outright neglect. Many around us live with the scars of abandonment that creates a kind of crippling sense of being a non-person. Of being less than. Of being invisible.

But there is another kind of invisibility, an obscurity that anchors itself into contented anonymity. It is much different than rejection and abandonment. It is a kind of discipline, like the philanthropists who quietly give to charities but do not want their name broadcast as the donor.  Or the good Samaritan who humbly goes their way never looking back as stand byers shout, "Hey, what's your name? We want everyone to know who you are and what you did!"

Jesus practiced this kind of self-imposed invisibility. Or at least he made a go of it. Like the time he healed a blind man and then told him, "Um, let's keep this on the down low. Let's keep it between us. Don't spread it around what I've done here for you."   As if...!  A man born blind is going to show up at his house in his small village and Jesus thinks he can keep that a secret? Jesus was attempting to keep his reputation from running away from him, from becoming a superstar, a celebrity rabbi who had the hot hands for healing. He was embracing obscurity as much as the Son of God could own with all the wild things he said and did in all those sleepy little towns. What was Jesus thinking!

There is an overlooked spiritual practice in the contemporary church of the discipline of being invisible. Of being unnoticed on purpose. Jesus, for example, told his followers to pray in secret and to also give money in secret. Jesus taught his disciples to fast quietly rather than draw attention to their spiritual prowess. Not in a creepy-secret-society kind of way. The purpose of Jesus' directive seemed to be purposeful anonymity, the willingness to be invisible. I suspect it has something to do with humility.

Flying low under the radar seemed to be Jesus' favorite strategy. There is a message in the New Testament that he didn't strive for people to understand his greatness. That was not his agenda. I think there is something remarkable to discover in that for my own life. Grand schemes to be in the spotlight on the stage of faith are unnecessary. Greatness is horribly overrated.

Jesus said it like this:   if you want to be great in God's kingdom, learn to be the servant of all.

And servants, like the homeless men and women of our cities, are the invisible citizens who quietly do good when no one is watching.
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Demotivational Devotional: Boring {Day Two}
Pam Hogeweide
The pretty young woman fidgeted in her seat at the tiny round table of the coffee bar I was enjoying my mocha latte and Cormac McCarthy novel at. It was mid-afternoon, the sun blazing through the picture-sized windows, cutting through the shadows of the dinky neighborhood coffee joint nearby my home. It was impossible to not eavesdrop on her cell phone converation. She  was incredibly annoying.  Anger flowed out of her like volcanic lava. It made for a tense atmosphere and I didn't like it one bit. I had stepped out of my busy household overflowing with teenager energy for a respite slice of quiet and reading peace.  But no, I have Miss He-Just-Broke-Up-With-Me  reliving every awful detail of the man who had left her standing in Traumaville. .I was about to give up in disgust and head to a nearby park for my quiet when her bitter tone suddenly became softer.

"He said I...," her voice trailed off as she tried to compose herself. I suddenly felt sorry for her. And curious. What did he say?  That she was too high-maintenance?  That she didn't match her E-Harmony profile? What? Why did this guy break up with this beautiful red-haired woman with skin to die for?

I pretended to be reading, but I was now fully engaged in her drama.

"He said...I. Was. Boring. Me? Boring? I'm not boring?  Why would he say that? I'm not boring....am I?" and with that admission came a quiet stream of tears as she listened to whatever voice of friendship was on the other line. No longer annoyed, I felt for her.  She had indeed been handed one of the most insidious let-downs a person can tell another person:  You are boring.

The idea that who we are is unengaging to another person can leave us feeling as if we are insignificant. If we are labeled boring, then we have become lumped together with other boring aspects of life, such as waiting in line at the grocery store.  To be told we are boring, to be rejected because we are perceived as boring and unindteresting, can create a shame about who we are.

I think the shame belongs to the one who is bored.

If we have become bored with someone in our lives, then it reveals more about our own effed-upness than it does about them. When we cannot discover the fascinating stories that are swirling around us then we are simply not paying attention.

Granted, some people, like the woman in the coffee bar, might have a clod of a partner who for lack of a specified explanation, falls back on "You're boring," as a catch-all word for break-ups. And I wanted to tell her that. I wanted to tell her, with all the motherly love that I could pass on to a total stranger in a coffee bar, "Honey, don't own that lie. There is no such thing as a boring human being."

I wonder if that guy of hers, as well as my own clueless self, fall prey to the idea that life with all of it's twists and turns, is supposed to be a purposeful adventure filled with excitement around every corner. As if we are in an action-packed movie. And indeed, some of us, the rare some of us, do find ourselves in such a story. Like soldiers. Or rock stars. Or bank robbers.

But most of us, most of the time, find ourselves in sleepy little tales of living one day at a time.  We are not heroes. We are not super-talented or super-anything.  We could be the one in the coffee shop sitting at the little table retelling the sin of being boring.

Life is not an entertainment center. People are not characters meant to thrill us. If I think about it some more, I  kinda think that those who are bored are really admitting that they are not being sufficiently distracted from  their own boring selves. They are not paying attention to their own storyline.

The young woman finally ended her phone call. She sat there quietly for a long time while I at long last found the spot of quiet I wanted for me and my book. The story gripped me as the plot thickened page after page. It was not a boring book.
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Demotivational Devotional: Mediocrity {day one}
Pam Hogeweide

I am going to do a little writing experiment this week. For the next five days I will post a short, devotional style entry around the theme of something I like to call Demotivation.  If motivation is the sexy superstar of self-promoting, Demotivation is the ugly little sister nobody likes to talk about.  
So let's see what we can discover together about the ego-shrinking concept of Demotivation.


Mediocrity
mediocrity is excellent in the eyes of mediocre people.  (Joseph Joubert, french essayist, 1754-1824)

I was watching a tv show that included an interview with a superstar extreme athlete. His commitment to a lifestyle of workouts and competitions is in deep contrast to regular folks who play sports for fun. "Dude, I just like to keep it simple," he recounted as some people respond to his militant-like devotion to physical achievement. "Well, yeah, keeping it real is keep it really mediocre," he snorted as he puffed up with peacock-like pride over his superior athletic talent. 

It got my grrr going which is why I probably remember the soundbite. 

Mediocrity is so misunderstood. We slap it on ourselves like a badge of shame to try to motivate ourselves into a better version of who we are. Is that really the way to inspire our imagination?

In the realm of faith, the common life is mistaken for mediocrity. I met a man one time, a gray-haired hippie who oozed with self-loathing over his quiet, unassuming life. He felt wrecked upon the heap of insignficance as he assessed his life as mediocre.  Yet here he was, living a stable life, working hard with his own hands to provide for his family, and he was healthy. I can tell you that my dad, who became crippled by his forties from a cruel disease called rheumatoid arthritis, would have traded with him in a heartbeat. (not the family part, but the healthy part!!!)  

There are a kazillion sermons and books and teaching series on how to Not Live a Mediocre Life.  I feel bullied just thinking about it. Who decides whether or not my life, or yours, is mediocre? 

I think it's time to pay attention to our mediocrity and call it what it is:  ordinary life. Most of us most of the time for most of history, are everyday, common men and women who live our lives in unassuming steadiness. We are not the history makers or agents of change. We are not the reformers or revolutionaries or revivalists of faith. We are commoners. The peasants of the kingdom of God who do not look for grandness in the great scheme of things, but are content to possess meaning in the mundane and obscure. 

Own up to your mediocrity. It's a gift in disguise.

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.  John 3:30
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Introducing Communitas Collective: A Cyber Hang Out for the Formerly Churched and other Refugees of church
Pam Hogeweide
Today there is an unprecedented exodus of people from institutional churches, yet a heightened awareness of spirituality. Many of us are weary of institutions, but hungry for community. There is a declining desire to be part of a system and a growing desire to be a part of something that is real - something that provides the opportunity for self expression and living out the life of Christ, rather than just talking about it. (from Communitas Collective)
My friend and fellow Portlander, blogger Erin Word, has joined together with other bloggers who have launched a new site for disenfranchised Christians.


Communitas Collective has been created by a team of people that include some bloggers I've had the privelage of meeting, such as Kathy Escobar from Colorado and John Smulo from California. Other team members I recognize from bumping into around the blogosphere like Gary Means and Cindy Bryan and Sue Stevenson and Glenn Hager who is the originator.

It looks very promising. With so many tribes and social networks forming all over the web, this is a group of people who have wisely determined their commonality and how they want to serve the cyber community at large. If you or someone you know has struggled with the form of church and institutionalized Christianity, this is a wonderful new wayfarers station that has sprung up for travelers just like you.

There is also a niche within Communitas Collective for those church pioneer types who are breaking off tradition and letting creative imagination lead into new forms of church and kingdom ministry. They call this area Verve. Here's a quote from Kathy Escobar who wrote up the opening article for Verve:

despite our cynicism about ‘church’ (yes, we know it seeps through!) we are idealists. we wouldn’t be doing this if we had given up.
Setting up a free membership account with Communitas Collective is as easy to get your Twitter going...I did it in less than five minutes. And no, this is not a another huge vortex of a social network. Think of it as a neighborhood coffeehouse where you can chill with a few friends for a little while. Especially if something churchy has gotten under your skin.

Go check 'em out. And then request a connection with me. {see ya there!}


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Long Overdue Book Reviews
Pam Hogeweide
Ok. I have a small mountain range of books, read and unread, that I have slowly been conquering. Instead of writing long posts about each book I've recently pinnacled, I'll instead give you a Blogger's Digest version and quick recap of what I've been reading. Think of it as a Twitteresque approach to book review.

These five books are in no particular order. And they certainly do not reflect the complete list of what I've burned through in the last several months. But here they are, for whatever reason, with a short review from yours truly. Let's get started:

CHRISTIANITY BEYOND BELIEF - following Jesus for the sake of others
by Todd Hunter

I've met Todd a handful times through my association with Off the Map, a progressive Christian organization that I connected with several years ago. I was surprised that he had not authored any books up to this point of his illustrious career as a professional Christian leader.

Todd was the national director for the Vineyard Churches USA and also the US president of the widely received Alpha Course. He's also a board member of several ministries including Renovare and I think he might still be on the board with OTM. He's in it for the long haul.

So, what did this dedicated churchman tackle for his first published work?


In Christianity Beyond Belief Todd confronts the idea that being a Christ follower is about the endgame of heaven and everlasting life. He challenges that mentality (thank God!) by insisting that the outcome of deciding to be a Christ follower is to experience the quality of new spiritual life in the here and now, and to experience that in such a way that it results in that newness oozing out to those around us. He maintains that our current relationship with our understanding of the gospel mainly results in forgiven people instead of a different kind of life, a "new and eternal kind of life right now." (page 26)

Christianity Beyond Belief is a good read for those who wonder what the point of the gospel is all about. If it matters. At times the book is repetitious, which I find is a common writing trait of those who teach and preach, but overall it is written in very accessible language. It will give you a fresh perspective on John 3:16. That alone makes reading this book a worthwhile endeavor.


PRINT IS DEAD - books in our digital age
by Jeff Gomez


This book was a thoroughly fascinating read about the transition we find ourselves in between the print and digital worlds of written communication. The author does a thorough job examining how the digital revolution is a tsunami wave of change and books will not be left unscathed. He cites many contemporary sources that add analysis to his thoughtful outline of why we need to be paying attention to a time in written communication the world has not seen since the Gutenberg Press was invented in 1440.

Will books shrivel up and blow away in the wind like dead leaves? No, says Gomez, but he likens them to candles. There was a time when lamps and candles were the means of lighting homes. That is, until the light bulb was invented. We still use candles, but for decor and art, or in emergencies. Gomez predicts that books will become quaint, archaic artifacts in the not too distant future. Generation Download is happy to receive their content through digital means.

One of the best insights I enjoyed from Print is Dead is Gomez' assertion that the printed page is the limited page. Digital pages, in contrast, can embed links and instantaneously take the reader to a citation or other useful hyperlink. The printed page will never be able to do that. He also discusses the increasing demand among readers to interact with content. It is not enough for younger readers to just read a book. Increasingly they want to interact with not only the author, but also with the characters and the story. Savvy publishers and trend-watching writers need to pay attention. The written word as we know it is changing. It wasn't that long ago when Ipods were a trinket for the affluent and techno-wizard. The world has witnessed their rise to power and now the music industry has forever been altered. LP records and cd's are increasingly becoming dinasaurs as young people - and old - can dowload a song with a click of a mouse. Imagine doing that with books. Oh, yeah, that is happening...Kindle anyone?

Print is Dead is a clarion call to pay attention to the mindblowing shift that is happening right in front of our eyes and in our hands. If you doubt that books can be challenged by the digital age consider this:

We need to realize we live in a time of almost unimaginable change, and to think that we can have such transformation in other areas of our lives but have books and publishing stay the same is naive bordering on irresponsible. And of course, for books to change, the business models on which the industry of publishing has been built for the last century will also have to change. While those in publishing hem and haw and wearily engage in this debate at various levels, an entire generation has already decided that print is dead. Indeed, for them - raised on the Internet - it might ever have been alive. (page 46)
Fantastic book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the historic transition of the printed word.


FALLING LEAVES -the memoir of an unwanted chinese daughter
by Adeline Yen Mah

My best friend in the world, Kim, was just here with her kids and husband staying in our home for the last three weeks. She and her family live in China. She gave me this book last week and I immediately dove into it. There is something riveting about Chinese women and their stories.

It was a hard read. Adeline, the writer and focus of the book, grew up in a home where she was abused emotionally, and sometimes physically, by a cruel stepmother. Culture and dysfunction married together with abandonment and rejection comporised her excruciating childhood.


Adeline writes the story well, providing rich descriptive scenes of the various cities she lived in including Tian Jin (where Kim just happened to have recently move to!), and also Shanghai and Hong Kong. I lived in HK in my twenties for nearly seven years. Her description took me there. In fact, I realized that some of her HK years coincided with my HK years. This made me connect to the story even more.

But it's not a heartache ending. Adeline overcame the odds and grew up into a strong woman and became a doctor. Despite her family's cruelties to her, even into adulthood, she managed to keep her heart soft and find joy in life. Falling Leaves is a beautiful reminder that we each determine how we will respond to the pain we find ourselves in. I have been inspired.


DATING JESUS- a story of fundamentalism, feminism and the american girl
by Susan Campbell

My snarky friend Mimi loaned me this book. (oops, I just realized I need to get it back to her!). Great read. A kind of memoir of how the author, a free-spirited strong-thinking girl, handled

growing up in a strict Christian fundamentalist home. She realized early on that all was not quite right between men and women when it came to pulpit power and homefront power. She absorbed her childhood with all the obediance of a child who may be sitting down on the outside but is standing up loudly shouting on the inside. Eventually, her inner child won out and the author began to renegotiate her fundamentalist understanding of Jesus.

This is a wonderfully written story that reflects the stifled girlhood many of our sisters have experienced in fundamentalist American. And best of all, it's funny. The author has a sharp edge to her wit which caught me off guard several times resulting in laugh-out-loud reading. Great book for summer time. Makes you think about gender inequity in the church, yet it's presented with brilliant narration and spiced up with just the right amount of zesty humor. Loved it.


WRITING TO CHANGE THE WORLD- an inspiring guide for transforming the world with words
by Mary Pipher

My blogosphere buddy Tracy Simmons emailed me a few months back and recommended this book to me. I immediately ordered based on that recommendation, and especially because I am familiar with the author's previous books. Reviving Ophelia is Mary Pipher's best known book, a classic on the struggles adolescent girls are up against. I've read it once and intend to read it again this summer, now that I am parenting my own adolescent daughter (the first time I read it from the perspective of my own adolescence).

Anyway, back to her new book. Writing to Change the World is an encouraging book filled with writerly insights and wells of wisdom. Pipher is not only a gifted psychologist but also a very capable and skilled wordsmith. This book gives writers like me the hope we need that the words we put out there can be helpful to making the world a better place. I have many of her phrases and passages underlined in this book. Many of them are worthy of becoming pithy sayings on placards. Maybe I'll make some to post up around my writing cave for inspiration. Here's a few:

  • ...effective change-agent writing has an intuitive sense for the profound and momenteous in the person or culture. They anticipate when there will be an interesting turning.
  • Good writing astonishes it's writer first.
  • Ephiphanies cannot be scheduled, but they can be invited.
If you are a writer or blogger or know someone who is, this book is a great big Writing Workshop of Encouragement and Inspiration to keep writing for all the right reasons. It's a keeper for my bookshelf for sure.

ok. That concludes my Blogger's Digest of book reviews for today. I have a whole 'nother peak of a mountain of books calling me to explore them. For sure I will be doing that all summer and fall and winter and then next spring. I'm like many people. A perpetual reader. And books, whether in print or digital form, will always be a part of my life.

***so what have you been reading lately? what books do you intend to read over the summer? inquiring minds want to know!
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