And

And teaches us to say, “yes”

And allows us to be both-and

And keeps us from either-or

And teaches us to be patient and long suffering

And is willing to wait for insight and integration

And keeps us from dualistic thinking

And does not divide the field of the moment

And helps us to live in the always imperfect now

And keeps us inclusive and compassionate toward everything

And demands that our contemplation become action

And insists that our action is also contemplative

And heals our racism, our sexism, herterosexism, and our classism

And keeps us from the false choice of liberal or conservative

And allows us to critique both sides of things

And is far beyond any one nation or political party

And helps us face and accept our own dark side

And allows us to ask for forgiveness and to apologize

And is the mystery of paradox in all things

And is the way of mercy

And makes daily, practical love possible

And does not trust love if it is not also justice

And does not trust justices if it is not also love

And is far beyond my religion versus your religion

And allows us to be both distinct and yet united

And is the very Mystery of Trinity…

— Father Richard Rohr

Have you read Finding Organic Church by Frank Viola yet?  I recommend it – he has steadily grown on me over his last several works, and this is his most practical and reasonable book on the world of starting and sustaining authentic Christian communities.

Viola devotes a whole section of his book to “Practical Steps for Beginning.”  His first chapter in that section, “Five Unmovable Principles” is what I want to mention briefly in this post.

These are 5 values, or goals that each person in a house church MUST strive for as they are starting a new community together.  Otherwise, it is certainly doomed to become another pet project, run by men and not by God.  Viola says that embracing these principles however, will help a community avoid the major pitfalls and disappointments that so many house churches are hammered with in their first year.

…I would say that after years of helping plant house churches, seeing some fail and some thrive, that his list dead on.

They are:

1. Become like little children.

You may have been a spiritual guru in your last church or at seminary, but now you’re called to drop your agenda, gifts, ambitions and simply be a humble sibling in the Lord.   Unlearn as much as you can at the start.  Lean on Christ alone.

2. Your feelings will get hurt.

People will let you down, and you will disappoint others – no getting around it.  You will not get your own way.  Strangely you will be most offended by the vices in others that most reflect your own.  When someone hurts your feelings, that is the moment to see exactly what kind of person you are and want to become in Jesus.

3. Be patient with the progress of the group.

This may be “simple church” but its not simplistic, and its not a microwave!  It took 9 months for you to be born, its similar with an organic church.  All the unlearning and rebuilding going on in hearts of your church family takes time.  Certainly everyone’s clock is not the same as yours, but never fear – there is progress – visible or not.

4. People will leave your group.

Be honest, working towards a house church with no regular sermon, large-group worship, children’s classes, etc is a tough shift for many Christians to make – even non-Christians have certain expectations for what “church” is in America.  WHEN (not if) people “check you out” and then “shop elsewhere” do your best not to wish them anything but the best, do not judge their motives, and do not pressure them to stay.  Maintain instead a liberal atmosphere of freedom and a presence of God’s Spirit.

5. People will experience exciting spiritual growth and healing!

Don’t forget that it is in this context that people were designed to grow.  It is their natural habitat to flourish – socially, and spiritually.  It is in intimate, small groups that transformation occurs – and it is in these committed families of love that hold the seeds to upend the world and transform it for GOOD.  Watch with expectancy as lives are changed and healed, and as ideas for local mission and service are hatched!

I’m still learning what it means to find freedom in discipline.  There is discipline that can evoke freedom, and then there is just strict, dry discipline.  There is discipline on one side, and spontaneity on the other.   I don’t think I’ll ever get a good balance of freedom through discipline this side of heaven, but I know that the continual training in godliness is the goal, not perfection.  Much like a violin player that disciplines herself for years will eventually be able to have the freedom to play incredibly complex works with ease – almost as a form of meditation.

The other day I heard a great quote – that “absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.”  — Simone Weil.  It takes focus and discipline to stay centered on a single action or thought in our world today.  Millions are diagnosed (and misdiagnosed) with Attention Deficit Disorder each year – and now they are proving that for every hour a toddler spends in front of a television set his chances of developing symptoms of ADD increase 10%.  No surprise there!

Truly look around at your world.  Think about the hundreds of items grasping for your attention – even as you read this.  Advertisements on web pages, TV, radio, clocks, phones, in-boxes, billboards…Twitter, email, Facebook…events coming up, Christmas cards to respond to, projects to plan, light bulbs to change out…on and on it goes.

So what is prayer in this lifestyle?  Could it be that your earliest experiences in prayer might be of some practical help here?  Closing your eyes and holding your palms together fingers extended is the way most Christian children are taught to pray.  In fact, Buddhists and other faiths meditate in similar form.  Recent research has discovered that we focus and meditate best when our most sensitive nerve endings are a “closed circuit.”  Your finger tips for example are filled with some of the most sensitive nerve endings on your body – its your fingers that allow you to engage your world in the most tactile way.  So holding your palms and fingertips together is sort of your way of saying to the world’s distractions, “I’m taking a break,” and begin training your mind and soul to dive deeply into God’s presence.

“So when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray…”  (Matthew 6:6)

Jesus was pretty clear that God is not held behind locked doors or in special places for special people.  Yet in his teaching on prayer, he specifically states that some places and positions are better for pray at than others.  I think that the human body is affected by the posture in which we pray.  The brain is active in different places when we smile and lift our open hands up to the sky than when we are crouched in the fetal position over a cup of coffee and a computer screen. The earliest Christians often prayed facing East (orient), because they wanted to “orient” themselves toward where they knew Jesus was going to return from.  Try bowing in your prayers.  Try facing east.  Try lifting up your hands.  Try prayer-walking.  Let your whole body in on what your mind thought it could keep to itself with regards to your prayers.  See your prayers transform.

If you are looking for “unmixed attention” when you pray, maybe it has less to do with your ADD diagnosis, and more to do with the simple fact that we are being bombarded with things seeking our attention – and yet God is not in those things – he is in the still small voice that so often gets crowded out by the whirlwind of our lives.  Listen.  Close your eyes.  And close your circuits off from the outside world.  Meditate and see where God shows up.