Rising and Writing

March 24, 2011

Riding my bike to the gym this morning I heard the bird song as I watched the sun rise. With cars whirring by me I was in a wonderland of this gentle mother nature moment. With every passing day I feel life is more like the wonderland of the rabbit hole, rather than the orderly depiction of sitcoms gone past. In this tumbling wonder I've followed my love of God and found myself in a wondrous calling of ministry, and into fantastical relationships with others. The latest of those relationships has brought me a great love, and a move from congregational ministry and into an undefined ministry. So as ministry and callings are done in relationship, I create this blog as a space for sharing, writing, and bread rising ...

That's right, I said bread rising. Ministry is the stuff of life, and what better place to discover how that stuff is to stick together than at the table over a freshly baked loaf of bread. Sifting, measuring, and let's get serious, spilling a lot of that on myself and the surrounding area, I'm finding bread baking is a lot like ministry. Most of us are nurtured, fed, and grow around a family table, a favorite aunt or neighbors side table, blankets creating a picnic table, or even the communion table. I've been blessed by sharing turkish coffee in Bosnia and having our fortunes read from the coffee grinds (one of those lucky fortune recipients is in the middle of making his come true), mangos and Fanta in Ghana, or slimy okra in Texas. Laughter and self discovery with friends in student housing over pizza or glasses of wine and homemade nosh with longtime friends feeds my spirit as much as a good sermon. To me, the laughter and conversation are the music to which ministry dances and the meal shared is food for our spirits. These are the greatest things in life, and you, are part of that greatness. So, this minister who doesn't have a congregation to pastor, seeks direction to the next step, recipe, and ministry with you.

I'll bake, post the recipe, share the product, and hopefully hear from you, as well.

So, let's bake!

Measure and sift, listening for God's call. Be bold! Throw it all in! For today's recipe I not only added walnuts, but I also added in my requests ... which brings us to the next step.

knead praying?/!

Knead and pray ... sometimes for the smallness of the daffodils, or delightfully pretty shoes. Sometimes knead out frustrations over friend's pain, or the suffering found in our world (most recently in Bahrain, Libya, & Japan to name only a few).

And then we let it rest ... to rise. We let the prayers and musings rise in us so it might create something impossible. The craft of baking still seems like magic to me. Baking powder amazes me and yeast astounds me! In order to rise to our fullest form, we need a tiny little life to kick that stuff of our lives into high gear. But I also like that resting is what makes this happen.

rising & resting

So resting is something I'm really not good at, but I'm learning. In order for bread to rise it needs to rest in a warm and draft-less, or safe place. For life this can be a little difficult to do at times, but thankfully there are nooks and safe spaces to nestle into in order to survey the world around you. In those moments you catch the birdsong rising of the sun (*amen*), or that yeasty kick in the pants to rise a little higher in your giftedness. Rising for me today brought a phone call from an old friend.

a little slice spread with ...

Sooner than you'd expect the impossible has happened on your very own table, and you had a floury hand in it. Enjoy that slice of warm bread, but also what arose for you during the process?

My plan is to share the bounty from my oven with others. Just you wait, you might get a little package in the mail. But, I also ask for your response. Where did you catch a glimpse of rising life? Was is the giggle you got when you saw that little kid pick his nose when he thought no one was looking? Was it the realization that your dog understands more than you really think? What are you spreading around today?