Pastor Craig's ConSpiritu Blog

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , Juliet muses upon her budding (forbidden) love with Romeo. The basic conflict that drives the entire story is that Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, and the two families are sworn enemies. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet. 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as swee t… ( Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2) So what is in a name? People give their children names for varying reasons. Sometimes it sounds good with a last name. Sometimes it is to honor a relative. Sometimes it is to evoke or allude to a particular quality evinced in the name, e.g., Peter = “rock,”...

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching, which means that Christmas is not too far behind. Christmas is perhaps the biggest annual show in our culture. Most of the trappings of Christmas have little to do with the original reason and meaning of the holiday, but even that story is one of the biggest shows around. The Christmas storyline – the one dealing with the birth of Jesus the son of Joseph and Mary of Nazareth, that is – is filled with adventure, intrigue and mystery. It features other-worldly visitors, murderous tyrant, seekers and practitioners of occult wisdom, rustic ruffians, a young family on the run, a birth in desperate circumstances. It is a drama through and through. The story has been so thoroughly rehearsed and replayed  for us that we rarely pause to consider who the people might be in this story. For the next four Sundays, we will be preparing for Christmas by getting to know some of the key players in greater depth. We will be doing this through a series of “int...

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses addresses the whole company of Israelites as they prepare to enter into the land of Canaan with these words: “When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors…a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). We all have inherited much in our community and church for which we did not plan nor did we build. How shall we express our gratitude? How shall we responsibly care for our inheritance? What shall we do as members of this household of God, who, like the early Israelites, have been led by God’s providential presence and have received innumerable blessings from God’s gracious hand? How shall ...

Stop what you are doing right this moment and look around at the room you are sitting in. How many of the things you see did you have a direct hand in producing? For instance, the computer you are using to read this blog – did you manufacture it? If you did, did you also manufacture the processor and other electronic components? Did you put together the monitor? Did you manufacture the plastic, or refine and cast the aluminum, did you process the silicon, the other various minerals for the screen? How about the food you eat, and the clothes you wear? The chances re extremely likely that you are responsible for very few of the things you consume or use every day. The point of this exercise is to help us remember that we are totally dependent upon sources outside of ourselves for much of what we need to live or to use everyday. Nothing is self-generated, everything arises out of something that preceded it. We owe our entire existence to things that we had nothing to do with producing. ...

In my last blog post, I made the statement that if you can talk, you can pray. I need to expand that. If you can think, you can pray. The quote on my office wall to which I referred (“Prayer is that part of the Will of God that requires the vehicle of human speech in order to be manifested in the world”) should not be construed to mean that actual vocalization is required for the act of prayer. Not everyone can speak vocally. Many prayers are, in fact silent. What is significant for prayer to be prayer is the formulation and expression of intention. In my study of the various religions and expressions of spirituality around the world, I have been struck by how often this notion of expressing an intention recurs. It seems to be a universal aspect of human spiritual practice. It is rooted in the ordinary form of well-wishing we extend to one another: “Good Luck!” “I hope you have a good trip.” “Have a great day.” “Happy Birthday!” “God bless you.” “Get well.” All of these express a ...

Several years ago, when I was visiting my parents in Beaverton, Oregon, I found myself sitting out in the courtyard under the gazebo in Bridgeport Plaza in Tualatin, Oregon. As I sat there, a man came and sat across the gazebo from me. The gazebo is large, so he was about fifty feet away. As most people are wont to do these days, he pulled out his cell phone and commenced a rather loud conversation. It became apparent early on that he was a minister and was speaking with one of his parishioners. The phone was one of those equipped with an earpiece and a microphone attached to the cord that connects into the phone. Because of this I could hear every word of his conversation, including his prayer. Not only was I uncomfortable with him broadcasting the sensitive details of his parishioner’s personal problems across the whole plaza, I also wanted to go up to him and ask him if he had ever read Matthew 6:5-6: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing ...

Have you noticed how technologized customer service is becoming these days? ATMs are slowly replacing real live tellers at banks. Red Boxes dispense videos, while places like Hollywood Video have gone out of business, where you would talk to a person face-to-face, sometimes about the movie you were borrowing. You can now go to a grocery store, and purchase food or sundries using the self-checkout and never interact with a real person (unless the computerized checkout goofs up).  One of the main impetuses behind these developments is cutting costs. You don't have to pay machines a living wage, not worry about health insurance or other benefits. One trained technician can service a whole fleet of machines. But while large corporations save money this way, one thing that gets lost is the personal touch, the interaction between persons. Sure, those interactions can at times be unpleasant or rude, but they can also be helpful, cheering and at times even funny. But the point of this is...

For several years I lived in Joseph, Oregon , a small community (1000 people) tucked up in the far northeastern corner of Oregon. The house I lived in was heated by a wood stove, so during the fall and winter I would step outside and split wood to take in and toss on the fire. Joseph is located right next to the fabulous and mystical Wallowa Lake, which is cradled by two picture-perfect lateral moraines deposited during the most recent periods of the Ice Age. Wallowa Lake is a favorite stopover for migrating waterfowl, especially Canada Geese. So it was that frequently as I was chopping wood, a skein of geese would fly overhead, flapping and honking to beat the band. Sometimes they flew so low that not only could I distinguish their individual honks, but I could also hear the flap of their wings. I would stand there enchanted and delighted by the experience. I never tire of hearing honking geese.  Occasionally I would hear a strange sound. It had a tinge of desperation, and mo...

For the next several weeks, my sermons will be focusing upon issues of stewardship. Stewardship is a sort of an old-fashioned word that in many ways is as relevant and necessary as at any point in history. Stewardship basically relates to what it is we do with what has been given to us or more to the point, what has been entrusted to us and to our care. Biblically speaking, that means everything: earth, life, culture, talents, abilities, intelligence, etc. there is very little in our sphere of existence that is not dependent upon something or someone else outside of ourselves.  Theologically, we talk about the contingency of our existence. Another way to look at it has to do with the interdependence and interconnectedness of everything. Because of this vast and total interconnectedness, what we do to one another and with what we have direct influence over matters. It makes a difference. And because we speak of all things belonging to God (“the earth is the LORD’s and everything ...

SpiritQuest: Faith and the Life of the Mind September 26 th Evening Presentation Notes and Comments “To what End? Meaning, Morality and Purpose” To what end do we direct our intellectual endeavors? Is there purposefulness in the universe? How might the notion of doing that which is right be a constitutive part of reality? Begin with a description of my senior research project at Willamette University: “The Effect of Acute Doses of Ethanol on the Sleep-time Responses of Several Strains of Inbred Mice.” 1.    Research was sponsored by the Veteran’s Administration 2.    Several Researchers at Portland’s VA Medical Research facility were studying alcoholism from various angles: psychology, neurochemistry, genetics, etc. 3.    I worked with a researcher who was researching the genetic component of the development of tolerance to various effects of alcohol (ethanol, or EtOH as it was symbolized): a.    Sleep-time response b.    Startle ...