mayo-moyle

  • faith

    “Faith is rooted in clarity, not certainty; magic is rooted in certainty”
    -Doug Anderson

  • General Conference

    I’ve been trying hard not to get too hooked into the politics of General Conference this year; there is just too much for me to fixate on and agonize over in terms of where the United Methodist Church might be headed. At the same time, I don’t want to ignore the reality that like it or not, this is an important time in the life our the church. To that end, I’ve found Adam Hamilton’s reports from GC to be helpful and insightful, and for those interested in the General Conference, I’d encourage you to check it out.

  • mmmm… cadbury


    i’m torn – i love this video, but i hate seeing all those cadbury eggs go to waste.
    (via soupablog)

  • it’s spring! (?)

  • mandatum novum

    An old meditation I wrote about this day…

    Mandatum Novum

    A New Command
    To love and to serve
    Of course it isn’t really so new
    We’ve heard it before
    Preachers and prophets proclaimed it
    Telling us it was God’s Word, God’s will
    To love, to serve
    We’ve heard it before –

    In the commandments
    carried down the mountain by Moses
    In the words of Micah,
    “Seek justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God”
    In Isaiah’s invitation,
    “To loose the chains of injustice… and set the oppressed free”
    We’ve heard it before
    But never really understood it,
    never really lived it

    It’s a new command
    That isn’t so new
    Only revealed in a new way
    When the Master acts as the servant
    When the King takes on the cross
    When the great reversal is revealed
    And peacemakers prosper
    And the humble inherit
    And the persecuted find a place in the kingdom of God
    When mercy, not might, reigns supreme
    And in death, new life is revealed

    This is the moment
    The new commandment takes new root
    Shattering our assumptions
    Opening our ears
    Transforming our lives
    A new command
    Given to us
    By the One who lived it
    By the One who loves us so much
    Anything is made possible

    Even we – with hardened hearts
    Even we – ready to employ every excuse
    Even we – are loved
    Even we – are forgiven
    Even we – are called to live like he did
    Loving and serving
    So that all may know
    Of the grace
    of the greatness
    of the glory
    Of our God.

  • geldof and bush

    If you were to tell me that Bob Geldof was on Air Force One with President Bush, I’d assume you were setting me up for a rather elaborate joke… instead it is the basis for a fascinating interview found here.

    For those of you who aren’t ’80s pop-culture geeks Bob Geldof is the guy who did this:

    and this:

  • dance party

  • Pew Study

    The Pew Forum Religious Landscape Survey has been released and has been getting some attention. Here are a few different looks at it:
    Brian McLaren
    Adam Hamilton
    Marta Aldrich (UM News Service)

    I haven’t had a chance to study the survey numbers myself, and the fact is there are people much more knowledgeable than me who can make better sense of what they actually mean, but I think as United Methodists the bottom line is we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing. As McLaren notes the question that needs to be before us isn’t “What do the customers want?” but “What does God want?” and how will the church be in mission to make that happen?

    There is a big challenge before us, because it means a significant shift in the mindset of the institutional church. While the data is sobering in terms of what it could mean the future of the UMC (or potential lack of), I also think there is great opportunity. Part of what the data seems to imply is that people haven’t given up on God (atheists and agnostics only account for about 4% of the population); they are just dissatisfied with church. How we address this dissatisfaction is a tough question and I’m not even going to try to suggest an answer, but there is room for hope. We can hope, as long as that hope entails a willingness to seek out God’s will and a commitment to doing God’s will, especially as it calls us to ministry with the least, the last and the lost.

  • “she talks like a robot”

    -my daughter’s assessment of Sen. Hillary Clinton

  • lent – fasting and feasting

    David Warkentein offers this wonderful prayer for Lent:
    Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling within them.
    Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
    Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
    Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
    Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
    Fast from anger; feast on patience.
    Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
    Fast from worry; feast on trust.
    Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
    Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
    Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
    Fast from hostility; feast on nonviolence.
    Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
    Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
    Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.
    Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
    Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.
    Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
    Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
    Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
    Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

    Gentle God, during this season of fasting and feasting, gift us with Your Presence, so we can be gift to others in carrying out your work. Amen.
    via Mike Todd