[Reflections from Eugene Peterson's text] (Posted by Dr. Nissley)
1) Peterson provided the launch pad for my doctoral dissertation on spiritual formation. Please post any general comments or questions related to Peterson's text. One of my favorite sections is, "The Assumptions of Subversives" (pp. 34-37). Who is your favorite spy, detective, or anarchist that you utilize in developing your leadership style? [My detective is Columbo, he fumbles around dealing with "I got this problem, could you help me figure it out? I attempt to distract and through people/students out of their norm/rut to possibly embrace another world/perspective/kingdom in our lives & ministry.]
While Death lends a Hand was in the planning stages, Levinson and Link decided that Columbo should have a dilapidated car to fit his personality. Falk resisted this idea. Columbo already had the wife, the cigar and the raincoat. That was enough. No more gimmicks were needed. Peter looked at cars on the Universal backlot there was every make and model imaginable he did not like any of them. It was the day before they were to start shooting way at the back "I just saw the nose of a car sticking out", it didn’t even run, it did not have an engine but Falk said "This is the one".The car was the closest thing the series had to a regular supporting player. It would appear in most of the episodes. Twice the car was involved in accidents: a fender-bender at the beginning of A Matter of Honor and a spectacular collision with speeding police cars in Make me a perfect Murder. In several episodes, the car serves as a rich source of humor Short Fuse, Etude in Black, Negative reaction.After Columbo ended its NBC run, Falk remained convinced that the car was safely stored on the Universal backlot where he first recognized the automobile that must belong to Lieutenant Columbo. When ABC announced plans to revive Columbo in 1988, Link discovered that Universal had sold the car. Parties in Florida and San Diego claimed to have the original Peugeot. The car was found in Ohio.
CAR TRIVIA
Sent to us by Ted KerinQuestion 1. What is Columbo's NEW license plate number?Question 2. What kind of car does Columbo drive?Question 3. How many of Columbo's model of car does he claim are in the USA?Question 4. Where is the cap to the gas tank in Columbo's car?Question 5. What kind of tires does Columbo put on his car?Picture sent to us by Nico Trenti
MEMORABLE EXCHANGES ABOUT COLUMBO'S CAR
Any Old Port in a Storm ( 1973 )Valet: Boy you sure don't see many of these things around.Columbo: I've got over 100,000 miles on it. You take care of your car, it'll take care of you.Candidate for Crime ( 1973 )Policeman: You ever consider getting another car?Columbo: I've got another car. My wife drives it. But that's nothing special just transportation.A friend in Deed ( 1974 )Charlie Shoup ( used car salesman ): Yes, indeed. It's a real honey. You know we don't get to see many of these around anymore - especially in this condition.Columbo: Well, I try to take good care of it.
Q. What is the make, model and year of that old wreck Peter Falk drives in the "Columbo TV movies"? A. Like the 70-year-old Falk himself, that beat-up vehicle on Columbo seems to get better with age. It's a 1959 Peugeot convertible, Model 403. Only 504 were produced in France, and Falk's production company owns two (the second is used as a backup car). Despite their dilapidated appearance, the cars are treated with kid gloves.
During location shooting around Los Angeles, the dusty gray autos are carefully transported on trail-ers. Incidentally, last month's ABC movie "A Trace of Murder", which marked the 25th year on TV for Columbo, co-starred Peter Falk's real-life wife, Shera Danese, 47, as the murder suspect's wife.For more information on Columbo's Car please visit the Scrapbook
[Columbo's car was in Findlay, Ohio.]
2) Curing souls connects to the movement (fad?) of Christian counseling toward spiritual direction rather than only psychological/social methodology & skills. What happens when you can't fix a problem/person/program?
3) What does being "unbusy'', subversive, & apocalyptic mean to you as a Christian leader
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Calhoun chapter on "Open Myself to God"
[Work through this section of Calhoun during the next two weeks, some of this may be review from the Spiritual Formation course.]
My suggestion is to work on one foci--simplicity, which will open your schedule for the other areas to emerge. Simplicity is what Rodney Clapp discussed in his Introduction to the Peterson text (p.12), staying in one place and connecting to the kingdom. We see this pattern in Jesus' ministry, to launch the Kingdom-he stayed in a small place to train his disciples rather developing a campaign to conquer, he trained his "Kingdom Commandos" to be subversive in a small training area. Simplicity opens the door to the complex, profound, and beauty.
Activity: Clean out a closet, room, desk, file cabinet, or corner of your backyard and only place in it what is spiritually edifying or beautiful. I am clearing out a corner of our backyard to develop beauty. Today, a bush went to the firewood pile. We can have too much stuff, plants, bushes, furniture. . . a therapeutic exercise for overwhelmed ADD/ADHD is clean out the clutter of their homes and lives. Spiritual direction is the process of clearing out the clutter to hear God more clearly and to experience the beauty of holiness--lack of clutter. Holiness, spiritual disciplines, and spiritual formation is about being uncluttered (simplicity), unbusy (kairos time, the right or opportune time), and open (receptivity) in God's presence. In a frenetic society, perhaps we all have to deal with SDL (Simplicity Deficit Lifestyle).
Blog Protocol: Please feel free to comment and discuss issues that arise from our posts. In other words, you may ask questions, disagree, affirm, or ponder one another's posts.
6 comments:
Dr. Nissley, I agree with this statement "Simplicity opens the door to the complex, profound, and beauty." I am inspired by nature and its simplicity of growth and development which is actually complex when you think about it. All the different trees, flowers and animals co-existing. Yet, they do it. I cleaned out my closet and have two bags of clothes to take over to the mission. I am strongly trying to get my husband to get rid of clothes that he and I both know will not ever fit again. As I continue to mature along this pilgrim journey, I have come to know that less is truly more. More time to just "be" in the presence of God.
Ruby , I agree with you that less is more. That is the fraze my family kept telling me as I was bringing stuff from the attic to decorate our house for Christmas. I listened to them, and sure enough "less was more" the house looked nice and I was not exhousted with too much to do. Simplicity is one of the disciplines I would like to keep on practicing. I know I need to clearn out closets. Maybe I'll just start with my desk at home. I am trying at work to give myself a list of goals that can be accomplished that same day adn not to have a long list that make me feel so stressed. It is working well, as I am finishing those things on my list and feel a sence of accomplishment.
Session #2, "Exploring the Problem and Adventure of Spiritual Direction"
[Reflections from Eugene Peterson's text] (Posted by Dr. Nissley)
1) Instead of sending me “Exploring the Problem and Adventure of Spiritual Direction” Amazon.com sent me “The Contemplative Pastor” by Peterson. Both books cover some of the same material so I should be okay. Peterson identifies three major themes implied in subversives. The unacceptability of the status quo, the existence of another world that is livable and the unavailability of conventional means for overthrowing one kingdom and replacing it with another.
I am still trying to get used to this quiet storm approach to building the kingdom of God. Peterson calls it being “subversive pastor.” It is somewhat similar to the philosophy behind Jujitsu. In Jujitsu you learn to go with the energy and the weight of your opponent verses struggling against them. Using this process a small person can easily overpower and over throw a much bigger and heavier person. When we think about Jesus’ approach to sharing his message through parables, we erroneously attribute the overwhelming responses he received to his being forceful. Yes, “Jesus was a master at subversion” but he rarely threw his weight around.
I do approve of stories that give people something to which they can identify with. In preaching we call that “application, however, is there a time when we would change our approach based upon the environment or the culture in which we are serving? Should there be a time when we go to the temple and begin throwing things out that are antithetical to worship and might that even sometimes include people? What do we say to the Peters of our congregations who want us to take everyone to the “promised land” as opposed to the cross? I think that the approach, whatever it may be, has to be relative to the people you are addressing and that takes spiritual discernment.
I liked Columbo also. His style of playing oblivious as to what might be going on enabled to to cover much ground in both parenting and pastoring, but my favorite was James Bond. He got all the pretty girls, lived dangerously and always got out of trouble, not to mentioned he had all the toys. I loved Bill Cosby and identified with him in “I Spy” but unlike his partner, he never got the girl. And then there was the “Avengers”, “Secret Agent Man”, I never quite equated the ministry of pastoring with that of being a spy for Jesus but that about sums it up for us. My favorite biblical spies of all time however are, of course, Moses and Joshua.
2) Curing souls connects to the movement (fad?) of Christian counseling toward spiritual direction rather than only psychological/social methodology & skills. What happens when you can't fix a problem/person/program?
“Curing souls” as described by Peterson in his book, “The Contemplative Pastor” is a way of life that includes not just what happens in the pulpit on Sunday morning but as a result of our interaction with our people the week as well. He states that these weekly encounters are the “raw material for teaching prayer, developing faith and preparing for death.”
There are times when I really do want to get away from everything and everyone. At one time, the idea behind the monasticism was that you had to get away in order to become more spiritual. I think that spiritual retreats allow us to become refreshed, renewed and re-empowered and are both rewarding and necessary. But even Peter, James and John had to eventually leave the mountaintop experience and get back into the valley of the shadow of death, so to speak. They had to come down and experience the reality of life and difficult folk. The tension in ministry comes from trying to please God while at the same time, trying to move people away from those mundane and ungodly places and into the presence of awesome and loving God. It is out of that tension between the two that we begin to blossom and bloom as mature agents for God and become contemplative leaders.
Trying to fix people will keep us frustrated. That is an assignment that belongs only to God and we are just agents in the process. In other words, no one ever gets “fixed” but we can all grow as we continue to walk with God. As people come to know him better through the spiritual disciplines of prayer, studying the Word and meditation they will begin to experience spiritual transformation, reformation and a more intimate relationship with Jesus.
3) What does being "unbusy'', subversive, & apocalyptic mean to you as a Christian leader.
As a Christian leader “unbusy”, “subversive” and “apocalyptic” together summarize the character of mature believers who seek whole heartedly to know God. When we are “unbusy” we are attentive to essential things. We are focused on what matters most to God and men. When we are unbusy we are in the posture of listening and being still in such a way that we can hear perpendicularly and horizontally. We may not like what people have to say but we do have to listen in order to minister to them. When we are subversive, we are fully aware of who we, and Whose. We are content with the assignment that God has given to us. And while we understand the fact that people don’t fully understand the extent of our assignment, we are content with forging ahead with God’s will “by any means necessary.” Or should we say, by any spiritual means necessary. The necessary spiritual means by which we should frame our lives and ministry around is the discipline of prayer, contemplative prayer.. I like the title that Peterson gave to the apostle John. He refers to him as the “apocalyptic pastor” or the praying pastor. I desire to be a man of prayer. I believe that we should all strive to be persons of prayer. Our souls depend on it.!
Ben,
I wonder, is there is a guilt felt by pastors when there are times when they really do want to get away from everything and everyone?
In my thinking as a lay person, I would assume that it is understood that getting away is necessary. Jesus did it. Why not pastors?
Thanks Ben & Ruby for your posts, being too busy to pray is the "defcon 5" of spirituality in our era. Fixing doesn't take as much time as curing, spiritual direction is based upon God's schedule for healing and wholeness.
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