Radicals, Renegades, and Revolutionaries (Expanded Version)

L. Dwight Turner

The divine call to incarnational faith is one that no self-identified follower of Jesus can avoid. Like Jonah of old, we may flee this radical call of Christ by heading toward anywhere but Nineveh at breakneck speed. Still, if we choose to remain in the Christian fold, we will eventually have to answer the call – it’s either that or wind up as whale vomit. Ultimately, it is our choice and I say that from personal experience. I spent my share of time trying to wiggle out of God’s call on my life. I wasted time, energy, and like Jonah, spent time in the Leviathan’s belly.

Christ calls us to walk a fine line. That’s what all this “be in the world but not of it” talk is about. It is not an easy line to walk, especially when the distinctions between the faith and the world are less than clear. Nevertheless, it is to this tightrope Jesus calls us and it is to this tightrope we must go. For whatever reasons, it was a passion of the Master and, by way of obedience, it is to be our passion as well. We are to be a light shining before men that will cause them to see our good works and in turn, bring glory to the Father. (Matt. 5:16)

Kary Oberbrunner, founder of Redeem the Day Ministries, speaks clearly to this divine calling and also to the tension that is inherent in such a demand:

Our difference from the world, not our similarity to it, sets us apart. But even though Christ-followers are called to be different, we’re also called to transform the world. Here lies the tension. We can’t be so far removed from the world that we lose contact, and we can’t be so much like the world that we’re no different from it….



Radicals, Renegades, and Revolutionaries

A sustained look at the spiritual landscape that constitutes Christianity at the close of the first decade of the 21st Century reveals a broad spectrum of trends. However, one that jumps out in an unexpected way is the interesting coalition of forces that are coming together with a common agenda and purpose. Although these forces are divergent in terms of size, theology, and background, they share a common objective: to serve the world in ways great and small in the compassion that Jesus did.

Noted social researcher George Barna has called these passionate and socially engaged believers “Revolutionaries” and goes on to say that this divergent network of Christians, which includes liberals, conservatives, and everything in between, has the potential to transform the very fabric of Christianity as we know it.
Although the mainstream media only paid passing lip service to these new trends, we began to see evidence of this new force in the faith community during the run up to the 2008 Presidential Election. The fact that Pastor Rick Warren and Saddleback Church played host to a special forum featuring both Barack Obama and John McCain was a major clue to what is beginning to be a groundswell of social and political involvement of a whole new breed of Christian. Post-election statistics reveal that it was these Renegades for God that helped elect Barack Obama. Although a divergence away from the traditional Evangelical support of the Republican Party, it should also be noted that this was not an indicator of a new allegiance toward the Democrats. In fact, research shows that these Revolutionaries are mostly independent and highly progressive in their political leanings.
Barna continues:

The United States is home to an increasing number of Revolutionaries. These people are devout followers of Jesus Christ who are serious about their faith, who are constantly worshipping and interacting with God, and whose lives are centered on their belief in Christ. Some of them are aligned with a congregational church, but many of them are not. The key to understanding Revolutionaries is not what church they attend, or even if they attend. Instead, it’s their complete dedication to being thoroughly Christian by viewing every moment of life through a spiritual lens and making every decision in light of biblical principles. These are individuals who are determined to glorify God every day through every thought, word, and deed in their lives.

A most promising yet challenging aspect of these new Christian communities is that former barriers of ideology, theology, and partisanship are being transcended. Admittedly, differences do exist within these blossoming coalitions, but these dissimilarities are seen as minor when compared to the passion these believers have for the causes they espouse. Long-time Christian activist Jim Wallis observes:

Christians of color, younger white Christians, “new evangelical” pastors and leaders, and progressive Catholics and Protestants from many denominations are reaching across barriers to change the face of Christianity – and also to engage with allies in other faith communities. They have learned many lessons from the mistakes of the Religious Right and they aren’t about to repeat them. And they are not about to become a new “Religious Left.” When asked if they are liberal or conservative, many will answer “yes,” depending on the issue. And because they don’t easily fit the political categories of the left and right, they could become bridge-builders, bringing a divided nation together on the politically transcendent issues of poverty, human rights, climate change, energy transformation, and the urgency of peace.

These highly committed believers are what Barna calls Revolutionaries and David Foster calls “Renegades for God” or simply, “R4G.” It is a deep, incomprehensible but accessible God that issues an irresistible calling to these special believers, who to a man and to a woman have a deep, abiding hunger for the Divine, not just as a nice, cozy, image of a father in the sky, but instead, for a living, breathing, divine entity that lays claim to their lives and gives them a purpose and a calling far beyond the parameters of their egos and petty concerns.

Such a God is a dangerous God. He is dangerous precisely because he is unpredictable, counter-intuitive, and mostly because he cannot be mocked. Such a God can surely give us comfort; he is, in fact, called by scripture the “God of all comfort.” Jesus tells us his yoke and burden isn’t heavy or overwhelming and if we come to him he will give us rest.

Yet at the same time he will give us a calling, a mission, and a destiny. Yet at the same time he tells us that following him involves sacrifice, rejection, and something called “cross-bearing. Concomitantly, he supplies us a plan, a purpose, and a promise – “And be sure of this, I am with you, even until the end of the age.”
All three are needed, because the genuine path of Christ is a difficult undertaking. His yoke may indeed be easy, but his consistent demand upon us is the most arduous and threatening requirement that could ever be made of a mortal.

In essence, Christ bids us to come and die. The promise of our own resurrection is there, but the prospect of facing spiritual death is a fearful commodity. What makes this whole process of dying and rising in a spiritual sense all the more ironic is the fact that we are already spiritually dead, we just don’t know it. In return for our commitment, Jesus offers more than we could possible imagine or comprehend, but above all, he offers us life. Indeed, we are resurrected from our spiritual death and brought into the light of his steadfast love. He loves us and expects that we share that same love with others. We can either accept the offer or reject it, but either way, we have to deal with it.

Remember the encounter between Master Jesus and the rich young man who was reluctant to follow Jesus’ demand that he sell his belongings and give the proceeds to the poor? The rich young ruler had no misunderstanding of what this demand would mean. He would have to give up his riches and give to the poor and that, of course, hit him where he lived – his wallet. But I think this young aristocrat understood something else after listening to Jesus, most likely on more than one occasion. He discerned the deeper message of sacrifice, suffering, and personal pain involved in following this radical teacher. No doubt he saw that look in the Lord’s eye when he spoke. He understood what Jesus was saying – that the entire order was corrupt and rotten and that something totally new, vastly sweeping, and thoroughly uncompromising was being put forth as salvation for his ailing world – something called the Kingdom of God – something requiring a price most costly for entry.

These contemporary revolutionaries we are speaking of fully understand exactly what Jesus meant in his confrontation with the wealthy young man. Whether or not these revolutionaries are rich is not the point; the point is they are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to get more of God – not more from God like the Prosperity Gospel advocates suggest – but more of God, as that gnawing spiritual hunger in their bellies demands.

These revolutionaries, these “Renegades for God,” have counted the costs and are ready to pay. These sold out believers fully understand what is going on at this critical juncture and they are willing to step up to the plate and take their swings. Watching from the bench (or the pew, for that matter) is no longer an option. These renegades have taken up their crosses….

David Foster, founding pastor of Bellevue Community Church in Nashville, gives a vivid, far-reaching description of the typical renegade, but be advised that the term “typical” is inherently contradictory when discussing these firebrand radical Christ-followers.

A renegade is a live-wire, someone who gets up with a positive outlook every day. They savor the moments by understanding that every breath is a miracle, every sandwich is like manna, and every person met is a priority. It doesn’t mean they don’t get down, it doesn’t mean they don’t go through hard times of hurt and pain, but they are resilient and resourceful. Give them enough time and opportunity and they’ll find a way to make life great. They choose to live – not lose. They are winners, not whiners. They are truth seekers, not agenda pushers.

Don’t you just love that last line? Aside from being great prose, Foster here is describing the kind of person of integrity and depth that is sorely needed in today’s church as the Body of Christ attempts to get its bearings in the rapidly shifting shoals of postmodern, post-Christian culture. Foster continues:

Renegades are mavericks. We don’t necessarily mean to be, but we have a low B.S. quotient. As such, we resist secondhand faith and hand-me-down rules….At the core of the renegade spirit is an insatiable curiosity. They want to know why things are the way they are. We ask lots of questions. That’s why for us, rule-based religion is a stodgy, staid, and provincial way to live. Renegades surmise if God can be known, it should be through a relationship, not through a set of rules, which do not relate to real life in the real world.

Renegades – radicals – revolutionaries – by whatever name you call these dynamic men and women of faith, they share one other vital common denominator. Perhaps more than anything else, they want to be people of authenticity. They want to be sincere, transparent Christians who know what they believe and live what they believe. These followers of the Master Jesus may, indeed, be the saviors of the Christian faith and they understand the only way to practice the art of being what Paul called a “living epistle” is to be persons of authentic integrity. Reflecting Christ, they communicate through their lives that they are a people who can be trusted.

Moreover, these radicals are consecrated to giving their lives over to issues of relevance in today’s confusing, drifting world. Foster sums this up very well when he says:

We want to invest our lives in issues that matter, endure, and will prevail in the end when everything else melts away…Renegades are spirited, positive, energetic people. We love life and want to experience everything it has to offer. We want a big life that matters and makes a difference. We’re not looking for neat and tidy. We want our lives to count, now and forever. We want to live every day unafraid, unashamed, untamed, and unleashed.

Barna estimates there are already over 20 million Revolutionaries in the United States and these sincere Christ-followers have “gratefully and humbly accepted the opportunity to do what is right, simply because it is right, even if it is not original, politically correct or culturally hip.”

What makes Revolutionaries so startling is that they are confidently returning to a first-century lifestyle based on faith, goodness, love, generosity, kindness, simplicity, and other values deemed “quaint” by today’s frenetic and morally untethered standards. This is not the defeatist retreat of an underachieving, low-capacity mass of people. It is an intelligent and intentional embrace of a way of life that is the only viable antidote to the untenable moral standards, dysfunctional relationships, material excess, abusive power, and unfortunate misapplication of talent and knowledge that pass for life in America these days.

The new influx of Revolutionary Christ-followers seems to have surprised many people, in the church, the media, and the culture at large. In spite of the fact that the institutional church’s social importance has been on the wane for several decades, the advent of the Renegades for God should not come as such an unexpected development, especially when one considers the Master these revolutionaries claim to follow.

Jesus Undomesticated

One of the primary missions of the contemporary church is to reintroduce Jesus to the world. I say “reintroduce” because, over the course of time, the vision of Jesus painted in the pages of the gospels has been eroded. Most of us are familiar with the descriptions of the Lord as the good shepherd and “Jesus, meek and mild” that have been so much a part of portrait created by the church over the centuries. Granted, the Christ was all these things, but he was so much more.

He was, in a word, a rebel.

An honest appraisal of the character and mission of Jesus presented by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John bears witness to a more raw and earthy being, one who stood in open opposition to the established order and challenged religious authority whenever he thought it necessary.

He was, in a word, a revolutionary.

The teachings presented by Jesus not only ran counter to those of established Jewish tradition, but also were in stark contrast to the wisdom of the world. I find the following comments by Houston Smith, well known scholar of comparative religion, to be so accurate and succinct, I include them in their entirety:

…we have heard Jesus’ teachings so often that their edges have been worn smooth, dulling their glaring subversiveness. If we could recover their original impact, we too would be startled. Their beauty would not paper over the fact that they are “hard sayings,” presenting a scheme of values so counter to the usual as to shake us like the seismic collision of tectonic plates…We are told that we are not to resist evil but to turn the other cheek. The world assumes that evil must be resisted by every means available. We are told to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. The world assumes that friends are to be loved and enemies hated. We are told that the sun rises on the just and the unjust alike. The world considers this to be indiscriminating; it would like to see dark clouds withholding sunshine from evil people. We are told that outcasts and harlots enter the kingdom of God before many who are perfunctorily righteous. Unfair, we protest; respectable people should head the procession. We are told that the gate to salvation is narrow. The world would prefer it to be wide. We are told to be as carefree as birds and flowers. The world counsels prudence. We are told that it is more difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom than for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye. The world honors wealth. We are told that the happy people are those who are meek, who weep, who are merciful and pure in heart. The world assumes that it is the rich, the powerful, and the wellborn who should be happy. In all, a wind of freedom blows through these teachings that frightens the world and makes us want to deflect their effect by postponement – not yet, not yet! H.G. Wells was evidently right: either there was something mad about this man, or our hearts are still too small for his message.

Yes, I suspect that our hearts, like those Jewish leaders who first encountered this radical personality, were too small to contain the immensity of his message. Further, the threat posed by someone who carried such a message as this was enormous. Small wonder Pilate avoided dealing with him; small wonder the religious leaders took drastic action. Jesus was many things, but one thing he was not was a person to be ignored. Dorothy Sayers, that great lady of the faith, made the same point regarding the domestication of our Lord:

The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused Him of being a bore; on the contrary, they thought Him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium.

As the Body of Christ we are now in a similar cultural milieu as existed at the time Jesus walked the earth. Granted, times are different, but the themes are much the same. Like it or not, the Church now lives in a post-Christian culture. America is Christian in name only, certainly not in practice. Over the past 50 years the dominant worldview and subsequent value system has undergone marked change. Post-modernism and situational ethics now hold sway. It is within this mix that the Church must now carry out the essentials of its mission. The question at hand is: How will we reintroduce Jesus to the world, given the realities of the culture we now live in?

Answering this overriding question is a complicated affair, certainly beyond the scope of this short article. Additionally, we, as the Body of Christ, need to reflect deeply on how we may best go about meeting this aspect of our calling. Much prayer is called for. One thing is certain, however. We must present a more realistic portrait of who this man Jesus was, and still is. When he enters a person’s life, things are not always meek and mild. In fact, taking on Christ often results in an inner revolution. The Revolutionaries fully understand this and also understand that Jesus calls for a radical change that fuses the personal with the social and the spiritual with the political.

As we take Jesus on board we must recognize we are giving accommodation to what can be a dangerous entity; one capable of challenging our own conventions, our own preferences, our own habits, and ultimately, our own character. Jesus does not come into a person in order to affirm the status quo. Quite the opposite, this dangerous being takes up residence within your inner kingdom with the stated aim of revolution. Yet for most of us this inner revolt is sorely needed. It can, in fact, change us from wandering, confused, and empty vessels into vibrant, vital, world changers. David Foster gives us a glimpse of just what Jesus is up to:

Jesus is like air to the lungs and water to a desert dweller. He is not a religious artifact. He’s not dead. He is alive. He is engaged and engaging. He is here now, changing lives all over this world this very moment. When He walked on earth He changed everything for everyday, for all time. What started then continues today. It can’t be stopped though many have tried. Jesus is the rock of redemption and His church will prevail. He is here in this moment with you, doing what He always does, calling you to a higher place, calling you to break free from convention and stop going to church and start being the church everywhere you go. Let’s be “Jesus people” again. Let’s be men and women whose hearts are captured, redeemed, renewed, enlivened, ignited, set fee! Let’s return to the revolution to be the change we want to see in the world!
If you decide that you are fully ready to commit to this deep calling deep brand of Christian spirituality, recognize that you may very well experience responses that are less than positive. These negative reactions to your commitment to Christ may come from people important to you, like your friends, your family, and especially from other believers. It is for this reason that each of us must individually and prayerfully follow the advice of the Master who told us to simply “count the costs.”

During the course of this article I have referred on several occasions to the research and writing of George Barna, especially in regards to the movement of committed Christ followers that he calls “Revolutionaries.” Barna speaks particularly well to the issue of sacrifice that is so often part of the life of the “Deep Calling Deep Christian.” If you are seriously considering this path of consecrated endeavor, then pay attention to Barna’s words:

Know this: just as the prophets of old were unwelcome in their own hometown, so are Revolutionaries looked at askance by even their closest friends and family members. The skepticism of those who lead conventional spiritual lives is a palpable reminder that growth always comes with a price tag.
Be forewarned: just as Jesus Christ, the ultimate lover of humanity, was scorned, misunderstood, persecuted, and eventually murdered for His extreme love, goodness, compassion, humility, wisdom, and grace, so are Revolutionaries abused by a culture in crisis. The mere presence of Revolutionaries makes the typical American citizen – yes, even the typical churchgoer – uncomfortable. It is not uncommon for Revolutionaries to meet with rejection – verbal, intellectual, relational, or experiential – simply because of their determination to honor the God they love…..Like their role model, Jesus Christ, they ignite fierce resistance merely by being present and holy. It is perhaps that holy presence that will get Revolutionaries in the deepest trouble they will face – and that will bring lasting healing to a culture that has rebelled for too long against its loving Creator. These Christian zealots are radically reshaping both American society and the Christian Church. Their legacy is likely to be a spiritual reformation of unprecedented proportions in the United States and perhaps the world.

These ideas that Barna discusses and more cogently, that are lived out in the daily lives of countless “Revolutionaries,” bring to mind the spiritual philosophy and practical tactics used by Doctor Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights Movement. Basing his own methods on those of Gandhi, Dr. King used radical non-violence to expose the injustice, brutality, and prejudice of the existing social order. The more the powers that be reacted to those involved in the movement, the deeper the darkness of their hearts appeared to all whom witnessed what was happening. Perhaps in a similar way, the commitment, sincerity, and Christian love exhibited by these Revolutionaries may well shed light on how far many in the status quo church are from the true example set by the Master.
Describing David, an example of this new breed of Revolutionary Christian, Barna writes:

His life reflects the very ideals and principles that characterized the life and purpose of Jesus Christ and that advance the Kingdom of God – despite the fact that David rarely attends church services. He is typical of a new breed of disciples of Jesus Christ. They are not willing to play religious games and aren’t interested in being a part of a religious community that is not intentionally and aggressively advancing God’s Kingdom. They are people who want more of God – much more – in their lives. And they are doing whatever it takes to get it.

Two questions are immediately relevant, my friend. Do you want more – much more – of God in your life? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get it?

Listen closely. In your inner sanctuary, your heart of hearts, can you hear him calling you? Will you go with him, even if it means breaking free of convention? Will you follow him, even if it means you stop going to church and start being the church? Are you ready to be counted among the Jesus people? Are you ready to join the revolution?

If so, welcome aboard!

(c) L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

United Methodist Church Aims at Relevance and Service

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L.D. Turner

If you are a regular visitor to this site, you know that I often write about the major changes that are changing the face of institutional Christianity across the board. You will also recall that I have a sincere love and passion for the church, despite its many shortcomings, and genuinely believe that Christianity, when rightly practiced, has much to offer our hurting world. With its inherent creativity, its heart of compassion, and its depth of resources, the church universal is strategically positioned to become a positive force in helping shape our culture as this turbulent century progresses. The key to bringing these positive contributions to fruition is a willingness on the part of the church to be creative, progressive, flexible, open, and proactive.

I have been a member of the United Methodist Church for many years and am proud to say that our church is moving forward in an attempt to make itself a positive and beneficial force in the world and, in keeping with its mantra of “open hearts, open minds, and open doors, is doing so in a creative and exciting way. The UMC “Rethink Church” programs, along with the Ten Thousand Doors initiative, are but two examples of this.

Most recently, however, I came across a document that reminded me why, early on in my adult life, I chose to become a Methodist. The document I am referring to explains the rationale behind the UMC initiative entitled, God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action. It is the “Foundation Document” for the initiative and is authored by the UMC Council of Bishops. After reading this “Call to Hope and Action” my Wesleyan fires were blazing to say the least. And while I am sincere in my belief that denominational differences in this country are far too overblown, this document illustrates the social principles of the UMC.

“God’s Renewed Creation” maintains the firm commitment of the 1986 Council , namely that “nuclear deterrence is a position that cannot receive the church’s blessing. These documents, generated in 2009, also build on the observations of the earlier Council, that the nuclear crisis threatens “planet earth itself,” that the arms race “destroys millions of lives in conventional wars, repressive violence, and massive poverty,” and that the “arms race is a social justice issue, not only a war and peace issue.”

The 2009 Council of Bishops expanded its focus to include three interrelated threats:

• Pandemic poverty and disease;
• Environmental degradation and climate change, and
• A world awash with weapons and violence.

“God’s Renewed Creation” gives me both hope and a sense of loyal pride at being a part of the United Methodist Church as well as the Wesleyan tradition of social ministry. Recognizing that the world as we know it has become an interrelated, interdependent global entity, the UMC leadership is taking a proactive stance in terms of addressing some of humanity’s most critical issues. Also recognizing that the church has historically been part of the problems in our world, the Council of Bishops now seeks to become a creative and transformative part of the solution.

The United Methodist Church has the vision to see that God is doing a “new work” in the world and is taking positive measures to be an integral part of God’s work at this critical point in our planet’s history. Rather than taking a myopic, “what’s in it for us” approach to humankind’s crucial problems, the Council of Bishops has given voice to a vision that is much broader in scope and, in keeping with the Wesleyan heritage of befriending the hurting and the marginalized, seeks to bring God’s healing grace to those who suffer the most in this time of rapid change.

The “Call to Hope and Action” reflects the United Methodist Church’s mission to “Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.” Additionally, the vision of God’s Renewed Creation clearly reflects the denomination’s “Four Areas of Focus.” The Foundation Document states:

We know the world is being transformed and we seek to cooperate with God’s renewing Spirit, especially through our denominations Four Areas of Focus: (1) developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world, (2) creating new places for new people and renewing existing congregations, (3) engaging in ministry with the poor, and (4) stamping out the killer diseases of poverty. Focusing on these four areas will shape our discipleship such that those who seek God will see an image in our behavior that is inviting, encouraging, healing, and inspiring.

As a United Methodist, I clearly see the personal implications of these four areas of focus and, along with the biblical teachings of the Master, use them as a matrix through which I organize my personal spiritual disciplines. I especially find the principles of inviting, encouraging, healing, and inspiring helpful reminders for putting into practice what I have come to call proactive hospitality. This type of hospitality is not only sensitive to the everyday, routine ways of being open and hospitable in our homes and churches, but also actively looks for ways we can practice hospitality to others, even if it is nothing more than smiling and saying hello.

Personally, I seek to practice proactive hospitality by holding doors open for people and allowing them to enter before I do. This may seem like a very small thing and perhaps it is. However, I have found this to be a simple practice that has enormous benefit when carried out over a period of time.

The Foundation Document takes great care to show how the various problems facing humankind in this age are interrelated. For example, the issue of climate change is examined from an angle somewhat different than the norm. Rather than focusing on whether or not climate change is man-made or part of a natural cycle, the Council of Bishops views this vital issue in terms of its impact on those living under the thumb of oppressive poverty. In addition, climate change and poverty are seen as interconnected with violence and the sale of arms.

Climate change poses a particular threat to the world’s poor because it increases the spread of diseases like malaria and causes conflicts over dwindling natural resources. Easy access to small arms ensures that such conflicts turn deadly, and the specter of a nuclear war that would destroy the world continues to loom over us.

The Foundation Document was created out of the Council of Bishops being “called to speak a word of hope and action.” The document is also a product of the church’s sensing of God doing a new things, as described in Isaiah 43:19:

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

As I read over the document the first time I was able to experience that sense of calling – that blessed sense of God’s love in action in the world. I understood at a deeper level that we, indeed, are living in a critical era in the world’s history – an age in which the matrix of the future is beginning to take shape. The Foundation Document, which came into being in reaction to the critical nature of our time, addresses the needs of our age – an age the document calls “a hinge of history. In terms of its contents, the Foundation Document of God’s Renewed Creation:

• Describes the interconnected nature of poverty and disease, environmental degradation and weapons and violence through stories of those most affected;
• Shares information about Christian scriptures and beliefs, and our Wesleyan heritage in order to provide a foundation for our response.
• Recommends a variety of actions; and
• Reminds us of the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the great sources of encouragement and hope all around us.

To be continued

© L.D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved

Sacred Sanctuaries: Finding God in the Woods and Sky

L.D. Turner

A vital aspect of connecting with the Divine Source is to recognize that God reveals himself through the created world and does so with great power and clarity. I tend to view the natural order as Sacred Scripture, for that is exactly what it is. In our technologically advanced society we have become quite removed from the intricate choreography that is evident in the dance of creation. Whenever we allow ourselves to get away from our usual fast-paced, stress-driven lifestyles and force ourselves to slow the pace down to a reasonable level, the Spirit can and does speak to us through things like trees, rivers, flowers, boulders, and even bugs. We, however, have to have eyes to see and ears to hear if we want to establish, maintain, and especially deepen our contact with God through nature. Mark Scandrette, in his great book entitled, Soul Graffiti, tells us:

In the hurried and technological society in which we live, we may have to be more intentional about practices that help us recognize the goodness of God revealed in creation. Many of us live and work in contexts that are divorced from the rhythms of the natural world. We have lost our connection to the soil, our food sources, and the skill of making things with our hands. We rarely notice the rising or the setting of the sun. We gulp food without tasting. We rarely pause to look at the flowers or into the eyes of a child. Our pace of life affects our capacity to appreciate the goodness of the bounty that surrounds us. The demands of a hurried life and the dominance of technology cloud our awareness. Slowing down and learning to pay attention to the moment may be a path to affirming God’s essential goodness and presence.

I believe attentiveness is truly a spiritual discipline, just like meditation, solitude, prayer, fasting, celebration, and all the others. Mindfulness, so much a central part of Buddhism, is basically unheard of in Christian circles. St. Francis and Brother Lawrence seem to come closer than most, but both of these saints have long since passed on. As followers of Christ, we should be ever grateful to God for revealing himself to us through the scriptures of nature and further, we should express thankfulness for those contemporary voices that are now speaking of the significance of these matters. Keep this pair of words before you my friends:

Mindfulness and the Discipline of Noticing

The more mindful we are of what is happening around us, the more sensitive we will become to what Erwin Raphael McManus calls “divine moments.” The more we practice “noticing,” the more we will know about the God we worship and follow.

As mentioned earlier, our contemporary environment, especially in the cities and suburbs, removes us from the natural rhythms of life and the natural world. As a result, we often miss divine messages that come our way. Rarely do we take the time to “consider the birds of the air or the lilies of the field.” It is our loss but it is something that can be regained. Further, God is able to speak to us through the created world in spite of our hectic schedules and artificial lifestyles. Wayne Teasdale, a contemporary Catholic mystic, speaks of these divine moments and their importance to our spiritual formation:

Most of us can probably point to such moments in the inner geography of our development, moments in which the universe, the earth, or the natural world have communicated to us something of their numinous quality. Such experiences are common; everyone has them sooner or later whether we realize it or not.

Although we are conceptually unaware of it at the time, natural mysticism is often our first true and valid experience of the divine side of things. I personally believe we have this capacity as a necessary part of our natural endowment at birth. As children, we are able to “see” things more directly and more clearly, rather than filtering our raw experience through a maze of conceptual explanations. In a very real sense, we can see the world through “eyes of radical wonder.” Unfortunately, our culture soon educates this blessed talent out of us before we are ten years of age. As a result, our world becomes less magical and equally less real. We end up inhabiting a world consisting of the interpretations of experience rather than the experience itself. All of this happens in the name of something called “our own good.”

Fortunately, this trend has been changing over the past two decades as people become more aware of the sacred nature of creation and the fact that humankind is an integral part of created order. This new, healthier view of things is increasingly based on the realization that all of the natural world is like on giant hologram in which all the parts are interconnected and contain a perfect image of the whole. Along with advances in ecological studies, biology, and quantum physics, this paradigm shift is seen as part of the emerging Interspiritual Age. Teasdale continues:

The Interspiritual Age is witnessing a new flowering of natural mysticism and natural contemplation. It welcomes natural mysticism’s role in a universal understanding of mysticism itself. It realizes that natural mysticism is an important part of spirituality, and that spirituality – indeed, interspirituality – would be incomplete without the inclusion of mystical wisdom that comes to us through the natural world and the cosmos.

There have always been those who sensed a special kinship with the natural world and those of us who have been fortunate enough to have encountered one of these blessed saints should be forever grateful. I have had the privilege of knowing several such individuals and benefited greatly from their presence in my life in general and from their teaching in particular. I wrote of two of these special people on the LifeBrook International blog. One was my grandfather and another was “Old Ben,” a Native American man who lived near my childhood home. Both taught me a great reverence for the created order and each, in his own way, imparted a special sense that allowed me to hear the heartbeat of God in the Pine and Palmetto woods of Southwest Florida and in the forests, streams, and mountains of Northeast Alabama.

Always an avid reader, another influence on my nature mysticism was Jewish scholar and author Abraham Heschel. Heschel’s writings showed me the importance of experiencing a sense of “awe” and “radical amazement” when encountering God’s handiwork in the natural world. I recommend Heschel’s work highly.

My favorite writer in this genre, however, is without question Annie Dillard. Reading A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek was an epiphany for me. I have read it five times now, and still find nuances I had not seen before. Dillard has that rare ability to describe nature with a prose style all her own and, at the same time, share her faith in an unobtrusive and inoffensive way.

And of course, any mention of influential writers in this area has to include Thomas Berry, a farmer, a mystic, and an environmentalist of the first degree. Another is John Muir, whose descriptions and work in the Redwood forests of Northern California are classic.

As the near future unfolds, I will gradually be writing more about the importance of the mysticism of nature and the concepts of mindfulness and the “Discipline of Noticing.” During my quiet time over the past month or so, I have felt a gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit to take up this project. I have found that if I ignore these leadings of the Spirit, after awhile they are not so gentle. Further, if I even then refuse to follow, sadly, they disappear.

I have no intention of letting that happen.

© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved.