Love is Emerging

I have tried to write this post many times and the block that I am experiencing will not budge even one inch. It invades most of my creative endeavors lately and I have been relying on others to speak for me through their art, their words, their music. Something is brewing inside and it will be wonderful when it burst forth but until then i am like a bottle, stopped up.

But still I want to respond to this question, What is emerging in the church.

I have two videos to share with you that are answering that question for me today, at least today.

Key line for me: “I love the cause but not the act.”

Key lines for me: “Love is the weapon for the lukewarm congregation And love is the only thing that kept me believing, And love is the weapon for this wounded generation, Love is the only thing that kept me believing.”

It seems crazy to say that I believe that love is emerging in the church. Shouldn’t that have been present all along? Yes but I never experienced it. What I saw was a heavily guarded idea of love that was so infected with fear of others, fear of doubt and questions, that it did not resemble love any longer.

Watching love emerge from the rubble of the deconstruction of faith is a beautiful and hopeful thing. I am honored to be in the midst of this emergence.

NPM – April 3rd

All That is Gold Does Not Glitter by J. R. R. Tolkien

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Emerging Women Book Club

If you haven’t checked it out yet, click on over to Emerging Women.

Jemila Monroe is planning on starting an Emerging Women Book Club. Here’s her idea:

I’d like to suggest the creation of an Emerging Women’s Book Club — open to both genders, facilitated by emerging women. I sense the need for a female-oriented structure to keep our thinking and practices fresh and enhanced by scholarship and community, and to provide a venue for reflection that could serve as a rigorous, but more collaborative alternative to the tet-a-tet swordsmen style of debate that tends to prevail almost exclusively in emerging theology spheres dominated by men. Our discussions could include healthy debate and sharpening of each other’s ideas, but in a context marked by collaboration, building on each other’s thoughts as well as providing thoughtful critiques and further questions, seeking third alternatives, rather than polarization, responses in didactic, as well as story and poetic form, and the welcoming Mystery to the table.

Anyone interested?

I’m going to be there! This is a season of re-education for me and I will take all the help I can get!

---

Immersed in the Mystery,
Cynthia

Related Tags: Emerging Women, Book Club

An emerging journey

We should be used to this by now … my friend and I. In fact, I have begun to anticipate the times when God reveals that He has us on parallel paths. It is such confirmation and sweet joy to be traveling with the best of company.

We laughed when we both, seperately, discovered Barbara Sher and as my friend was telling me about this wild woman she had seen on PBS, I was finishing her sentences because I had been reading the book, Wishcraft by that very woman.

When I shaved my head and was wondering about my new identity, she called to tell me she had seen India.Arie on David Letterman singing “I am not my Hair” just a day after I had added the song to my playlist on VH1.

The best and most important time was when we gulped in unison when we admitted to each other that we were exploring the Emergent/emerging church. Someone should have been there to record the look of shock on my face when she said to me, “So, what do you know about the emergent church?” I was sure she must have hacked into my computer and been reading my journal files. LOL!

The best part of it all is sharing the questions, the lack of answers and the challenging conversations that we come across on the web. Just this week she sent me a link to listen to Mike Frost. OK, so I want to scream,

“NO! Don’t do this to me! This is what I want but I can’t figure out how to live it. Don’t give me this information when I have no outlet for it!!”

But I listen and

I am inspired and

I dream about how it could be and

I pray for to God continue to move me in HIS direction.

Thank you fellow sojourner … looking forward to talking about all of this with you

---

Immersed in the Mystery,
Cynthia

Related Tags: Mike Frost, Michael Frost, Emerging Church, Emergent Church