Is it time to bury Cokesbury?

Several years ago, Rachel received a Cokesbury gift card as a gift. She still has the card.

[Cokesbury is the "official" place for United Methodists to buy church curriculum, supplies, and many other "Christian Store" products.  In years past, Cokesbury's profits funded the pensions for United Methodist Clergy.]

Rachel still has her gift card because we live 2 hours from the nearest Cokesbury store and their gift cards cannot be used online. Every year we go to Annual Conference, and Cokesbury always brings a large display and selection of books and supplies to Annual Conference.

You can’t use a Cokesbury gift card at an Annual Conference Cokesbury, either.

A month or so ago, I called Cokesbury because I was having trouble navigating their website in trying to find some particular worship supplies.  When I told the customer service representative that I had been trying to find something on the website but to no avail, she replied with a chuckle and then said, “Oh, you can’t find things on the website!”

In the 1990s, when I was pastoring small churches outside Waco, my practice was to call and order things from Cokesbury.  But wait!  For a couple of years we were strongly encouraged NOT to order by phone, but to drive to Fort Worth’s Cokesbury store for purchases. Why?  Because, apparently, Cokesbury pitted phone sales against store sales, and was threatening to close the Fort Worth store for lack of business.

Maybe it is time to let Cokesbury die.  It represents too well the United Methodist Church’s decline, and epitomizes the difficulty with which we might accept change and move into the future able to win disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world (this is our mission statement as a denomination).

Wouldn’t it be great if…

Wouldn’t it be great if I were more organized?

Wouldn’t it be great if I dealt with each piece of mail once, instead of letting things pile up on my desk for weeks at a time?

Wouldn’t it be great if I could get in the habit of flossing my teeth every day?

My list could go on and on; I’m guessing yours could, too.

One of mine, up until this week, was a “storage room” adjacent to our fellowship hall.  It is actually 1/6 of the room, but the collapsible walls around this section had never been collapsed in the 3 years I’ve been here.  It became a storage room between 4 and 5 years ago, and gradually filled, almost to overflowing.

Then, a month or so ago my supervisor suggested we clean it up.

We have been doing exactly that this week.  Somewhere during this process, I reflected as I cleaned that I’ve been wishing for 3 years now that this storage room might be cleaned out and restored to usability.  It is now about 90% of the way there.

As I reflected I realized that I had come close to starting the project several times, but each time decided it was too big a job.

It really hasn’t been all that bad.  The other staff of our building have shared the task with me, and it has been, to tell you the truth, a rather enjoyable engagement.

But now it has gotten me thinking: What are some other things I have thought about, put off, pondered “wouldn’t it be great if…” yet never got around to doing.

Not much good in life just happens to you, you know?  On the other hand, stepping up and doing something, moving from passive to active, can make a huge difference.

Wouldn’t it be great if I could only remember that?

Mission Accomplished

In 2007 I kept track of my reading throughout the year, then, in 2008, I did not.  A year ago now I had to think quite a bit to remember what all I had read.

This year I returned to my 2007 practice, though unlike 2007 I didn’t keep track of monthly progress. Here is my list of books completed in 2009.

Early on I was running about 3 books a month, but, with a couple of higher months, I soon started to think I could bring up my average to 4 per month.  I did it, albeit with several quick-read novels to finish off.

I’ve already begun for 2010.  I’m reading The Management Myth by Matthew Stewart. Also, A couple of months ago I was turned on to GoodReads.  Check it out if you’re a book person.

What do you recommend I read in 2010?

Post Christmas

After almost two weeks off, it’s time to get back to blogging.  I hadn’t realized it had been so long until Cathy Giessen, my mother-in-law and faithful reader, reminded me.

Had several great ideas for posts last week, but, alas, didn’t make notes.  So I thought I would reflect on Christmas.

I was thinking earlier this month about all the family trauma that happens in December.  A lot of families have (let’s call them) challenging times.

I believe that some of the stress of the holiday season come from stories we make up in our heads about “how everything is supposed to happen.” When the holiday doesn’t live up to the expectations we have made up in our heads, the snowball starts rolling, exaggerating anything that doesn’t go right and minimizing what does.

I cite, but don’t blame, the way we like stories where everything works out well in the end.  The Christmas season is especially marked with movies and television shows that model this for us, encouraging us to dream that this year, finally, everything will work out right – this Christmas will come to a close with a glorious “and they all lived happily ever after.”

Then, it doesn’t

How would it work to tell ourselves a different story of preparation for Christmas? What if  we replaced the expectation of everything going right with an expectation that we will make the best of everything that doesn’t go right?

You know as well as I do something will go wrong. Something won’t happen that you wish would, or something will happen that you wish wouldn’t. For many, these are recurring events – the same things happen (or don’t) every Christmas, yet the next year we gear up and wind ourselves up tight expecting, no, depending on, things to change this year.

Maybe you and I can change, instead of passively expecting other things to change.

I am already starting to get pumped about what might go wrong next year at Christmas time, and can’t wait to see what we can make of it!

God of Science

Listening to an NPR piece this week about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that is about to re-open.  During the report, someone speculated that the LHC  might show scientists some dark matter.

In case you don’t know what dark matter is, it is the God of Science.  By this I mean that dark matter is what scientists use to make their explanation of how the universe works make sense.

I realize it is only Wikipedia, but read through the entry about dark matter to see how essential it is for the current explanation how everything in the universe works.

I characterize dark matter as the “God of Science” not really to disparage science, but to suggest that perhaps the supposed gulf between science and faith is not so broad after all.

It seems that dark matter is for some scientists a “god of the gaps;” an explanation of certain unexplainable events/occurrences, etc., for which actual evidence cannot be found.  Religion is often accused of having a “god of the gaps” in that some religions have, over time, adjusted their understanding of how the world works as progress explains more and more things without the need of a supernatural involvement.

While I’ve not heard anyone refer to dark matter as supernatural, its posited existence serves a suspicious role in some naturalistic worldviews.

Advent Conspiracy

In case you haven’t seen this somewhere else:

and this

A Quarter Century Later

25 years ago today I received a BA from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.  I appreciate the education and experience I had during my 3 1/2 years there.

Tiger’s Christmas Gift to Us

Everyone say it together now: “Thank you, Tiger Woods!”

I have lately tended to avoid blogging on such stories as this, but yesterday began to think of all the hoopla that has followed from Tiger’s car accident from a different angle.

One of the things I try to keep constant on this blog is looking at and thinking about things from a different angle.

I realized yesterday that whereas a high percentage of people used to like Tiger, now it seems like even more people like to talk about Tiger. Why such a preoccupation with what supposedly upsets/bothers/offends us?

Deflection.

So long as there are Tiger Woods type stories, we can use them to avoid dealing with, facing, or talking about our own shortcomings and difficulties.  We would rather talk about his shortcoming than our own.

Because, let’s face it; your shortcomings and mine aren’t nearly as bad has his, right?  Or at least not as press-worthy.

Yet Christmas is celebrated by Christian and non-Christian alike with light.  Tiger’s story is receiving all the light; helping us keep our own stories in darkness.

May Tiger Woods’ difficulties and challenges give each of us the courage to bring our own stuff into the light, because only by bringing our challenges, difficulties, shortcomings, yea, our sins, out of darkness and into the marvelous light can we find hope and healing.

Christmas Treat

I just finished Bruce David Forbes’ Christmas: A Candid History.

Forbes is a religious studies professor at Morningisde College and serves with Rachel (my wife) on the Board of Alternatives for Simple Living.

I found a good, more complete review than I will be offering here. This is a well-written, scholarly yet accessible read about Christmas. I highly recommend it.

The reason I write this today is that I read a letter to the editor in this morning’s Waco Tribune-Herald. Here is one paragraph to give you the idea:

Somewhere along the way during the past century, the central figure of the Christmas season was changed to Santa Claus. The Christmas season became the holiday season, and instead of the expression “merry Christmas,” it has been changed to “happy holidays.”

I want to share this from Forbes’ study.  Christmas as a holiday has never, in the history of humankind, been first and foremost about Jesus.  There is no record of Christmas being observed during the first 3 centuries after Jesus’ birth.

Ever since the fourth century, Christmas observation has risen and fallen, but has, broadly, never had much to do with the celebration of Jesus.  It has always been more about celebration (earlier, this was mostly partying, eating, and drinking, and openly relatively recently been about gift-giving).

Lamenting the way society, or anyone else, for that matter, treats Christmas is likely a waste of energy that could better be used elsewhere.  One such better use for this energy might be directed toward the Christ:

1. Jesus’ birth was God’s way of coming into our world, onto our level, to communicate God’s love for us. What can you and I do over these next two weeks to communicate God’s love to those around us?
2. Increasing numbers of Christians and non-Christians alike are concerned about the growing commercialism of Christmas.  What can you and I do to spend less and love more this Christmas season?
3. Instead of arguing with non-Christians about Christian, pagan, and secular history behind various aspects of Christmas celebration, why don’t we practice civility in celebrating how all these various heritages can come together, as they do in the US?

Brand Loyalty

I don’t usually think of myself as particularly brand-loyal.  Something I did this weekend has me thinking otherwise.

Rachel and I were in Arlington for my parent’s 50th anniversary, and, upon checking into the hotel Thursday night, realized we had forgotten to bring toothpaste. I went on a quick quest for toothpaste.

As I pulled into the nearest convenience store parking lot, content to by whatever brand of toothpaste they carried at whatever price.  As soon as I was off the road, I noticed a QuikTrip across the intersection from the Valero into which I had turned.

I pulled back onto the street, waiting through the traffic light cycle, and went to QuikTrip for my toothpaste purchase.

Why would I choose QuikTrip over Valero for toothpaste?

The only explanation I have is that my experience with QuikTrip is always satisfactory.  They always price their gas competitively, and upon entering the store, I know exactly what to expect.  Every QuikTrip I have been in has greeted me with a nearly identical interior and friendly, eager-to-help employees.

My brand-favoritism of QuikTrip over Valero has almost nothing to do with Valero; it is all about my positive experiences with QuikTrip.

They’ve been telling us in Church Growth workshops over the past 2 decades that the Americans have less brand loyalty than they used to when it comes to church or denominational membership.  It seems to me we in the church have often read this as indicating that some other churches are offering better experiences or fresher, more relevant presentations of the Gospel.

I can’t help but think, on the heels of my Valero/QuikTrip experience, that what we (as United Methodists; though the same would hold true for any group) ought be doing is shoring up a reality that in any United Methodist Church anyone visited anywhere, they would have a common, recognizable experience, and that would be an experience they would want to come back for.