Neither spiritual nor religious

Some people love the opening of baseball season and the ensuing conversation. Personally, I find the discussion following the "Pew has a new poll" season even more fascinating. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently released "'Nones' on the Rise" (http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx), so this month I feel quite like all those baseball fans who thrill at the first pitch on opening day.

Each time they publish their findings, a certain portion of the Christian world, especially the mainline Protestant clan and some evangelicals now in decline, engage in what amounts to hand-wringing. Their reaction is of the "Oh Lord, we are no longer the majority, what are we going to do in our new minority status?" variety. This group starts brainstorming how to once again reach those who mostly aren't interested in being reached.

There is another Christian subset that responds to these Pew updates with something approaching glee. This group's voice is recently tempered, a bit less shrill, as even this bastion of conservative Christian commitment sees flagging membership and participation--but they are still out there. I can actually quote directly from someone in this camp, since they tweeted back at me when I first posted the Pew study: "Revisionist theology does not give birth to disciples of Christ--but does give rise to those who see all religions as equally valid. That we see this remarkable rise in the number of spiritual invalids should be no surprise given what has been preached from American pulpits for decades." It's all the fault of liberal Protestantism, see?

This group isn't at all interested in reaching the "nones" unless they magically find their way back to the conservative, rule-based and doctrinally-centered core of true Christianity.

As a weird hipster Lutheran, I have a completely other response. I am, to begin with, happy with the increase in the number of people reporting their status as "nones." I am happy that the nones feel free to be authentic about their religious commitments (or lack thereof). The Pew report states, "These trends suggest that the ranks of the unaffiliated are swelling in surveys partly because Americans who rarely go to services are more willing than in the past to drop their religious attachments altogether." Praise God, I say. People in in North America are apparently now more free than they ever have been to state who they actually are, without fear. Conformity to the majority religiosity of our nation is less demanded, and I say that is all to the good.

My second reaction, equally strong, is... let's go on a road trip! If the nones are not out there "looking for" religious community (88% report they aren't even looking), then those of us who are part of religious communities, and sense a continuing call to proclaim the gospel, now have a place to go and a people to reach. Billboards and mailers aren't going to cut it. We have the tremendous opportunity to go where the "nones" are, where they hang out. Since they aren't seekers, and don't plan to be, the onus is on us. We get to seek.

Which leads to my third reaction... real life is messy. I'm thrilled by this opportunity, if also scared and nervous. Trying to live faith where people are, rather than draw people to the place we think we can safely practice faith, is no small thing. I was trained to live Christian faith in community that already has a certain shape. To get out into the world of the unaffiliated and figure out how to bear Christ there, well, that's both awesome opportunity and tremendous challenge. But I'm game.

Finally, it's probably worth reminding ourselves that even though Protestants now make up "only" 48% of the populations, that's still a whopping 48%. The nones, though a growing group, still feel like a minority, and a beleaguered minority at that. Just spend time talking to those who are religiously unaffiliated, and you will learn they are overwhelmed at times by our zeal, our stumbling attempts at evangelism and outreach. Many are nones for a reason. At the very least, the call of the religious community in response to news from Pew, is to be a non-anxious presence. Instead of upping our anxiety at our diminishing numbers, perhaps we are called, even more than heretofore, to empathize with those religious (and non-religious) groups who are truly minorities.

The Pew study was released on-line, which is often a recipe for failing to read the footnotes. All the footnotes in this study are worth attention, in fact in some cases are even more interesting than the summary findings themselves. I found footnote 11 especially illuminating, "Studies have found that some survey respondents switch back and forth between describing themselves as affiliated and unaffiliated. Researchers call such people 'liminals' because they seem to straddle the threshold of a religious tradition, partly in and partly out. In a 2006 survey and follow-up interviews in 2007, Robert Putnam and David Campbell found that roughly 10% of the members of each major religious tradition can be considered liminals. Moreover, they found that although the liminals’ nominal affiliation changed (in either direction) from one year to the next, their self-reported religious beliefs and practices remained largely the same. This may be seen as further evidence that the rise in the number of unaffiliated Americans is not just a reflection." Such description should increase our sensitivity within our own traditions to the sense of liminality many of our own members feel within our tradition.

And then there is footnote 12, which offers a glimmer of hope for the hand-wringers. "Nevertheless, there is substantial switching from unaffiliated to affiliated. In the current survey, four-in-ten adults who say they were raised unaffiliated now identify themselves as religiously affiliated." 

Clint Schnekloth

Pastor

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

What is prayer?

I'm kind of obsessed with prayer. I fully endorse it, practice it daily, but really have no idea what it is. There are tons of legitimate questions around prayer. What does it do? Does it change just me, or also God? Why do some prayers go unanswered? Why pray at all? What counts as prayer? How should I pray?

I think an entire systematic theology could be written on prayer, because it encompasses everything we are likely to say about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and our life in that divine and human Trinitarian complexity.

But a blog is not a fully worked out systematics. It's just some notes, some pointers. So here are my top five suggestions for how to pray or think about prayer:

1. Pray the daily prayer office. I link to a dynamic web-based version from a Lutheran church in Hawaii because they make it super easy to pray the offices daily. Don't know what the daily prayer offices are, or how to pray them? Just go to the page, click on the service you want to pray, and everything is set up for you to pray through an entire daily prayer service on the spot. The page also has a brief explanation of the daily prayer offices and their history. The daily prayer offices are far-and-away the most common way I center my prayer life.

2. Think of prayer using this list:

You're awesome.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Please.
Why?

If you have children, these five phrases are easy to teach even the youngest children, and in total they encompass every kind of prayer you can imagine. Sometimes this form of prayer has been called ACTS--Acclamation, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication--but those are fancy words, and hard to memorize. It's not at all hard to remember You're awesome. I'm sorry. Thank you. Please? Why, God?

3. Prayer is Christ's appeal to the Father, and we join Christ in his prayer. This way of thinking about prayer helps us pray all kinds of prayers (especially the psalms) that we would feel inadequate praying on our own, but if they are the prayers of Christ, and we are joining him in that prayer, suddenly we can pray with confidence, hope, even audacity.

4. Poetry is a worthwhile way to approach prayer. I took a stab at this last year in a post on what we are doing when we pray. This is why so many prayers are written down. For example, in her recent (and incredible) anthropological inquiry into understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God (When God Talks Back), T. M. Luhrmann attends prayer training classes in a Vineyard congregation in Chicago, and later in California. She writes, "People told me that when you are learning to hear God, it really helps to write down your prayers" (54). Keeping a prayer journal is a great idea. Although I don't keep one myself, I do keep a prayer "list," and as a worship leader I write the prayers of the church and other prayers for worship. Writing prayers out is a very different experience from simply praying at will, and helps focus prayer and make it more real.

5. Memorize some prayers. You don't have to make stuff up. Besides the Lord's Prayer, my mainstays for prayer are the meal prayer from Luther's Small Catechism, the Nunc Dimittis, which I sing before bed every night, and the Jesus Prayer. I also find myself periodically praying the Rosary. On my short list is to memorize more Psalms, because I find them to be of help and consolation in all sorts of situations.

6. In a way, everything is prayer. Sometimes we may have the image of prayer as that which is done while kneeling, hands folded, with an especially large space of time available and with the correct disposition in our hearts. But consider the possibility that a recent conversation you had was prayer; that a specific desire you felt was prayer; that a frustration currently burdening you is prayer; that the joy you recently experienced was prayer; that even your last big sigh was a prayer. Prayer is much more than we often realize or trust. All that is necessary is perhaps a larger awakening/mindfulness, to the full extent of our participation in Christ's prayer to the Father in the power of the Spirit.

A Simple Way to Bless Pets

Welcome

P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.

The Lesson

Psalm 8

8 Lord, our Lord, how majestic
    is your name throughout the earth!
    You made your glory higher than heaven!^[b]
2 From the mouths of nursing babies
    you have laid a strong foundation
    because of your foes,
    in order to stop vengeful enemies.
³ When I look up at your skies,
    at what your fingers made—
    the moon and the stars
    that you set firmly in place—
⁴         what are human beings
            that you think about them;
        what are human beings
            that you pay attention to them?
⁵ You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
    crowning them with glory and grandeur.
⁶ You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,
    putting everything under their feet—
⁷         all sheep and all cattle,
        the wild animals too,
⁸         the birds in the sky,
        the fish of the ocean,
        everything that travels the pathways of the sea.
⁹ Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

The Blessing (spoken over each pet, or each household of pets; each pet may be sprinkled with water)

“Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this/these pet(s). By the power of your love, enable it/them to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.”

Prayer

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

Sending

The Doxology (sung)

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise God, all creatures here below. Praise God above you, heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[note there may be many different kinds of pets present. Keep this very short and manageable for the diversity of pet owners and pets. A brief word of welcome, one reading from Scripture, a prayer, and a sending song]

This is your brain... this is your brain on the bible

You pull your family together for a home huddle in the evening. You share your highs & lows for the day, and you read a passage from scripture. The first step was fun, it wasn't rocket science, and you learned how the day went for your family and friends.

For the verse, you had to have some kind of bible nearby, and plan for reading it, but again, someone in your house probably learned how to read books out loud, and/or you have a neighbor who can read the bible to you. So you've got that step down.

Then, in the Faith Ink Faith 5 model for faith acts in the home, the third step invites you to:

TALK about how the verse relates to your highs & lows

Suddenly, you have a brain freeze.

Because really, let's try a hypothetical. Let's say your "high" was eating a red-velvet-cake Concrete at Shakes. Let's say the bible verse you select, the upcoming epistle for next Sunday, reads, "In many and various ways God spoke to us of old through the prophets, but in these latter days God has spoken to us by a son" (Hebrews 1:1).

Really? Really? I'm supposed to figure out how Hebrews 1:1 relates to eating delightfully indulgent cake-infused vanilla custard?

When I lead groups in the Faith 5, it's always this step that is the most daunting. With small children, I even just skip it. We jump straight to praying over our highs & lows, and then a blessing.

However, let's pause with this one for a bit, to see the benefits.

First of all, it's not at all surprising to discover that bringing an ancient text into conversation with our daily life experience is somewhat difficult. It's an old book, after all. Consider. Although Priscilla (who may have written the Epistle to the Hebrews) probably tasted cheese and other milk products, I really doubt she ever heard of red velvet cake, and she definitely didn't have early indication of there being awesome custard shops in North America, in Northwest Arkansas in the Ozarks (although too bad for her).

This step in the Faith 5 requires us to engage our brains. We're going to need to think outside the box, do a bit of free association. There is your brain... and then there is your brain on the bible.

Try this on for size. The last time I was at Shakes eating a red velvet and custard delicacy, I was watching the traffic, noticing my neighbors, and pondering Mama Carmen's the Fayetteville Prayer Room on the other side of the street (I was also trying to help three small children eat their ice cream--no wait, or was I poaching some of theirs, now I can't remember...)

I was thinking--you know... the gospel really has been on the move. It hasn't remained static, in one place. It keeps adapting to new places. It's even found a way to be native to Northwest Arkansas.

So here I am, a pastor in the midst of some Christian neighbors, and perhaps I can just pray for their ministry. Perhaps I can simply celebrate that God in God's great mercy gives us gifts--like red velvet concretes--and lets us eat them surrounded by family and in close proximity to neighbors who continue to proclaim the message of Christ.

Yesterday I even stopped in at the Fayetteville Prayer Room, and put a prayer on the wall for our call committee and our potential calling of a Pastor of New Communities. I know there are people over there with the spiritual gift of intercession who will pray fervently for us. Maybe some day I should buy some ice cream and carry it across to the prayer warriors there. It might sustain them as they pray for me, for us.

Maybe. Think. Ponder. Pray.

All of that was just off the cuff, some initial thoughts about the connection between my highs & lows and the scripture lesson I read today. Some of the connections aren't "logical." Others are. But who cares if they are logical? They're still worth the time. They exercise the brain. They open up the heart. There aren't right and wrong answers, after all. The Faith 5 is simply an invitation to practice, to try connecting scripture to daily life.

And now the next time I go to Shakes, I'm going to think about this blog post and the various ways God speaks, even while I order my cold plastic cup of delectability.

And so will you, dear reader, so will you.

Which is of course the point of the exercise.