On the Verge of Sleeping in My Car

One of those calls you don't want to get as a pastor happened to me this week. A church member called me at home and said, "I wanted you to know that Sheila (not her real name) has run out of money and can't extend the lease on her apartment. She doesn't have a job, so she can't get another apartment. We might need to take Sheila in to stay with us, because she's on the verge of having to sleep in her car."

Please know that Sheila is a member of our church. She is a professional with graduate degrees. She has been unemployed for about a year, and without family support Sheila is running out of money. We have been supporting her in many ways, but I was just about out of ideas.

So instead of panicking, I tried something novel. I prayed about Sheila and her situation. I asked God to help me find the right person who could give her a place to live, rent-free and safe. A place Sheila could bring her cat. A place she wouldn't have to move out of in a week.

Guess what? A few people came to mind. All of the people I called are prayerful people, serious contemplative people. Within hours, one of those good people called me and said he had found an apartment for Sheila. Three months, rent-free. In a neighborhood where Sheila would feel safe as a single woman.

I cried when I got off the phone with this man. God is at work through him, and through us. As Tilden Edwards from the Shalem Institute says:

One of the most important things for a congregation is a group of spiritually disciplined, committed people at the core of the community, people whose personal and communal identities and actions are grounded in openness to God as liberating and loving light.

This group sees the community primarily as an organism mysteriously growing from God's grace, rather than as an organization that they can effectively construct from autonomous rational decisions.

All I know is, Sheila doesn't have to sleep in her car tonight. Thank God.

I'm Home. I've Arrived. In the Here. In the Now.

I am engaged in a 16-month program in Contemplative Leadership. Inspired by teachers from the Shalem Institute, I seek every day to spend time in contemplation. Sometimes this is 10 minutes, sometimes 20 or 30. I'll use this blog to help lead you into a more contemplative life, so we can all be on this journey together.

The title of this post is a phrase I learned from Shalem that I recite daily. It's a great temptation for us to be constantly preoccupied and distracted. We dwell on issues from the past. We worry about things coming up in the future.

To still our mind and to quiet our heart to be attentive to what is now, it's good to take a SLOW walk and simply say out loud or to yourself, I'm home. I've arrived. In the here. In the now. We experience God's presence with us in the present moment. The first step in a more contemplative life is to hit the "pause" button on our activities for a few minutes, to be attentive and mindful of what is happening inside us in this moment.

Allow me to share some quotations that help define the nature of contemplation.

"Contemplation is a continual condition of prayerful sensitivity to what is really going on." - Douglas Steere

"Contemplation is looking deepy at life as it is in the very here and now." - Thich Nhat Hanh

"Contemplation is awareness absorbed and amazed." - Teresa of Avila

Before the end of this day, take 10 minutes to sit quietly, with your eyes closed, and recite this phrase: I'm home. I've arrived. In the here. In the now. Then just listen.

Rainbow clergy

So if I ask you to picture a class of seminary students at the Presbyterian seminary in Chicago, what would you imagine?

Fifty years ago, that class might have looked like a bunch of white European men wearing beards and smoking pipes.

Today that class looks like a rainbow of diversity. I know, because I spent a day at McCormick Seminary in Hyde Park with other clergy who are supervising seminary interns. When I entered the room, I saw clergy and seminarians who were black, white and Asian; young, middle aged and senior; male and female; gay and straight; Presbyterian, UCC, and Baptist; wearing jeans, wearing dresses and wearing suits.

Our new pastoral intern is Rick Steele, who started seminary at age 60 after a long career in telecommunications. He spent the summer leading a mission trip of 80 people to rural, impoverished Kentucky; teaching Vacation Bible School; and supporting a not-for-profit children's center on the south side of Chicago.

The face of our church leaders is changing as quickly as the face of our culture and society. Both McCormick (Presbyterian) and Chicago Theological Seminary (United Church of Christ) are training a diverse, dynamic, Spirit-led group of students to lead the church into the future.

Let's give thanks for a rainbow of clergy, who will bring God's Word new life! Let's give thanks for our seminaries and their hard work in training clergy for this new world! And let's give thanks for the people -- young and old, gay and straight, male and female -- whom God will call into ministry from our very own congregation. Do you see someone who has gifts for Christian ministry? Let them know. Let me know.

We will be blessed, challenged and transformed by our pastoral intern this year. Get to know Rick Steele. He's been sent to us for a reason.

Buying a cup of coffee

I learned last week that our local PADS organization is facing some significant funding cuts. This outstanding ministry to homeless men, women and families has experienced a 40 percent reduction in government funding. PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) usually begins operating in mid-September, but this year the season will begin Oct. 1.

Emily Akers, the PADS staff member who works with First United, asked if we might be able to donate the cost of thee coffee that is served to the 50-60 people who spend the night in Centennial Hall on Monday nights once a week. She asked if we could donate the cost of plates, napkins and flatware, too, because the PADS budget has been so sharply reduced.

"Of course," I said. Our operations manager, Fred Henders, will look at the church coffee budget to see if we need to order more to serve for the PADS clients. We will offer PADS the use of our reusable dishes, cups and glasses, and ask our custodians to run the dishwasher every Tuesday morning after the clients have left. These are such small things to ask.

But it troubles me greatly that our most vulnerable neighbors are facing these cuts. Walk-In Ministry executive director Cristy Harris said that their monthly visits have risen dramatically over the summer, and they too are challenged to find more resources to meet the requests for assistance.

Martin Luther King Jr. said the church is called to be the conscience of the nation. The day after I learned about these cuts to PADS, I had a meeting with my Congresswoman Judy Biggert. I told her in no uncertain terms that I cannot accept this shrinking support for the most impoverished members of our society. I hope you will join me in speaking to your state and federal legislators on behalf of those who do not have a voice in our political system.

They deserve much more than just a cup of coffee.