God's Gifts and Poetry

In the Spring of 2006 I was backpacking around Europe. Somewhere along the line I found myself begging for a bed at a hostel in Bucharest, Romania. The woman said, "Well there are two beds left, but are you American?" I said "yes" and she said... "oh that wont work." I asked why not and she said that there was a man in the room who was CRAZY and that he would get upset if there were any Americans in the room.
I had dealt with anti-American views before but I hadn't heard of anyone getting in a fight over staying in the same room, so I asked why he was so anti-American. She said that he was American, but was afraid of other Americans and once again exclaimed that he was CRAZY. So we came up with a plan to tell him that we were Canadian.

Over the course of my week there I discovered that this man was not CRAZY but was suffering from paranoid-schizophrenia. He was convinced that Americans were spying on him and clearly had felt abused by the American Government. The man was tormented both day and night by hallucinations and night terrors which is undoubtedly why he was so afraid and so CRAZY seeming to other people at the hostel.
I also found out that he was incredibly friendly to his Canadian roommate (me) and asked many questions about my homeland (which I had to laugh at, but never revealed my secret). Beyond his extreme politeness and friendly chitchat I also found out that he was a brilliant musician, possibly world class. Along with 5 identical American Passports he brought instruments where ever he traveled and practiced at all hours to the delight of those of us who hadn't written him off.

This was the sad part... I realized after a week of being there that everyone in the place was completely unaware of this man's talents, his gifts, his wonderful presence... they were all so scared of the CRAZY man.

A few months later I wrote a poem called "They Call Him Crazy" about this man.
the last stanza is as follows:

They call him Crazy
He looks on while faces turn to mock, mitigating another mountain.
Those fortresses built high to barricade, from the impending raid.
We're locked out from his artistic bouts, on mute to his glorious flute.
And when we joke about his unsure future, past and present,
we miss the God-sent presents that he has, and we haven't.
but they call HIM CRAZY.

Its crazy to miss out on the opportunity to see God's gifts, or God in another person.
Part of the reason I love Spirit of Truth is because we practice as many ways as we can come up with to enjoy and celebrate God's gifts in each other. We look for the truth in each other. Beyond the personal we look to change our community so that we can recognize the good in all people and so that none are excluded or oppressed. We seek Justice for all people so that all God's gifts are present. To do anything less seems crazy to me.

A week or so ago at a worship gathering Pete read the following from 1st Corinthians:

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.  There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.  To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

In the comments section below I implore you to share

What is your spiritual gift and how will you use it? 



As a society I fear we are missing the gifts of millions...

What will we do about it?

Co-creation and Sticking it to the Man

What lead Anne to the subject of her last post (Bigger Than We Imagine) is also a great example of the co-creative aspect of Spirit of Truth(SoT). At SoT all members are encouraged to bring their story and their energy to create a better SoT and a better world.  The idea for co-creation is extremely important because at Spirit of Truth we believe all people are important and so is their perspective.  Last week during a reading from Corinthians discussing that exact idea, a chain reaction of events took place that lead to the focus of this weeks discussion on language.

The following is an example of co-creation through a simplified story of what occurred this week.

Bigger than we imagine

As part of our discussion today, we touched on the topic of names for God that are stumbling blocks for us. These names have negative connotations and keep us from experiencing God's love. A bit later, I was reading at home and came across this line: "God is always bigger than our image of God."

We can, and should, use religious or spiritual names or descriptions of God that are helpful. But it may also be helpful to realize that no matter what words we choose, God is still bigger, is still more, than what we imagine. More loving, more understanding, more awesome than our image of God.

Sojourner Truth said, "Oh God, I did not know you were so big."

Can you expand your image of God?

God, bagels and community

Community is an integral part of a spiritual and religious life. I was baptized into a church community when I was ten days old, and was part of it for my whole childhood. I knew which woman was known for baking especially good cakes. I knew that two women who always came together were sisters and one was caring for the other who had very crippling arthritis. I knew which men were ushers and which families were related. I knew who rang the church bell and where the bell rope hung. When I came back from Communion, I could expect that my grandmother, always so warm and loving, would not see me for she would be deep in prayer. However, my grandfather, generally a serious man, would give me an exaggerated wink as I passed their pew.

When Paul and I were first married, we were blessed to become part of a church community. For the next thirty years, this community gave us treasured friends, celebrated the baptisms of our babies and helped us raise our children to feel loved by God, it got us through the deaths of both of Paul's parents, and fed us lots of doughnuts over the years. It was because of that community that my spirituality became an adult experience, and it was there that I shared times of truly feeling the presence of God. When that time ended, I was bereft for two years.

When Spirit of Truth began regular services, I decided I’d go a couple of Sundays, never expecting it to become my main spiritual community. However, by the second time, I knew these were people with whom I could again feel the presence of God. I had a new home.

Bagels instead of doughnuts, but still the same God.

Spirit of Truth Newsletter, January 31, 2011

Spirit of Truth Newsletter January 31st, 2011

Hello! This is the Spirit of Truth newsletter, to keep us all up to date on what’s going on with our community. Take a look, and see what you think. If you know someone who might light Spirit of Truth, forward this on to them. If you’d like to be taken off the list, or if you’d like to know more, reply and let us know.

Our Conviction: God is Love, Love is the center of all creation, and Justice is the public expression of that Love.

Our Vision: The vision of Spirit of Truth is a Minnesota and world where love and justice are at the center of our community and society, and where people, through spiritual nourishment, real relationships, dignified work, and public voice, live valued, meaningful lives.

Our Mission: The mission of Spirit of Truth is to be central to realizing that vision. To be a community of people that through spiritual practices, community relationships, action for justice and faith live into the belief that love and justice are actually at the center, and to create a society that lives up to that belief as well.

What’s Up Next:

1. Sunday Gatherings: We continue to get together every Sunday at 11am for prayer and celebration. Our gatherings are not formal, and are non-traditional. We sing songs, have discussions, and do some meditative prayer. We often stick to a topic or theme such as freedom, forgiveness, etc. Or someone tells a story. We listen to each other, and the ancestors through readings or quotes. The gathering is about an hour long, and people usually stick around for pastries, bagels, coffee and visiting. If you’ve been interested in checking it out, please do, we’d love to have you there.

2. Action: Spirit of Truth is about acting for justice. We believe that a faith community should exist to ACT on our values, not just talk about them. So, we’re organizing with a group of people in the Twin Cities that clean Cub Foods stores and other buildings in our neighborhoods. We’re partnering with them and the worker justice center called CTUL, to get Cub Foods to act with integrity and treat these workers fairly. They are asking for a code of conduct from Cub Foods so they can count on a decent standard of living. Cub foods and the other big box stores are part of our community, so we have a responsibility to speak up. Click HERE for more information about this campaign. Stay tuned to Spirit of Truth for upcoming actions. If you want to get involved right now, reply to this email, and we’ll get you started with us!

3. Spirit of Truth Blog: We are working to spruce up the blog, and start using it regularly and diversely. We envision the blog being a place where we can have good discussion about our faith and values, where we can keep each other up to date on what’s happening, and where people new to Spirit of Truth can learn about what Spirit of Truth is through the words of the leaders themselves. You can subscribe to follow the blog as well. We will be up and running with at least weekly postings in the next couple of weeks.

What’s been going on:

Things have been moving at Spirit of Truth. New people are joining us each week. We are trying new songs, and new conversations each Sunday. We are also working to set up more conversations about values and action outside of those Sundays. We call these conversations Spirit Moves, because they travel around the cities. If you’d like to have a conversation about values and action, or any issue that is important to your faith, let us know.

New energy is central to Spirit of Truth. Come join the conversation and the action in any way you feel compelled. If you believe in love and justice, we need you!

www.spiritoftruthtwincities.org

Spirit of Truth Faith Community

Peter Marincel, organizer:

651-336-6726

petermarincel@gmail.com

Newsletter 11/29

Spirit of Truth Newsletter 11/29/10

Our Conviction: God is Love, Love is the center of all creation, and Justice is the public expression of that Love.

Our Vision: The vision of Spirit of Truth is a Minnesota and world where love and justice are at the center of our community and society, and where people, through spiritual nourishment, real relationships, dignified work, and public voice, live valued, meaningful lives.

Our Mission: The mission of Spirit of Truth is to be central to realizing that vision. To be a community of people that through spiritual practices, community relationships, action for justice and faith live into the belief that love and justice are actually at the center, and to create a society that lives up to that belief as well.

What’s up next: This coming Sunday, December 5^th, Spirit of Truth will be joining with 1500 other people of faith in Minnesota for the Shining the Light event. It will be a conversation about how the next governor’s administration can work with us to create a more racially equitable and healthy community. Mark Dayton and his transition team are confirmed participants. Tom Emmer and his transition team have not yet responded to the invitation. Why are we participating in this event and in this movement? Because we believe that we are all sisters and brothers, but we have lost sight of that. Racial inequity, the gap of opportunity for people of color, is part of the reason why, and must be closed. We are not whole as a community until each person is valued and has the same opportunities for success and a meaningful, hopeful life. Please join us from 3-5pm at the Minneapolis Convention Center!

We also continue to gather weekly at 11am for celebration and worship. On Dec 12^th, Donna Pena will be telling the story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is a powerful story of God being on the side of those who desire freedom. Check it out!

What’s been going on: We have had lots going on as Spirit of Truth. We had been acting together as a community with a group of people who are cleaners of Cub Foods/Jerry’s Foods here in the Twin Cities. Although Cub is a good employer, the people they have cleaning their stores, where we shop for groceries, are subcontracted employees, and so their working conditions are really poor. So those workers are coming together, with the organization called Centro De Trabajadores Unidos De Lucha to demand that Cub Foods/Jerry’s Foods treat them better. Spirit of Truth joined them on their March for Justice, and also on a day of action on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We joined other churches all over the Twin Cities and fliered and took other actions at Cub foods all around the metro.

Spirit of Truth is a movement for love and justice, and is welcoming to everyone. Please join us!

Spirit of Truth

www.spiritoftruthtwincities.org

651-336-6726

pete@spiritoftruthtwincities.org

701 N Lexington Parkway

St Paul, MN 55104

Grounding

This last Sunday, our community decided to start using our blog in a new way. We’re going to use it for discussion and reflection with the whole community. It was pointed out that we talk about some big questions at the Sunday gatherings, and that it’s not enough time to reflect and digest the questions. So we’ll use the blog to do just that. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to respond.

One of the things that came up at our meeting was how a “grounding” exercise is really important to start our celebration gatherings. That led to a couple questions: What do you do to ground yourself? and then a more basic question: What is “grounding”?

So these are the questions I’m going to throw out today, answer any or all of the ones you’d like to: What does it mean to be grounded? What do you do to ground yourself? Why do you looked to ground yourself? What does it have to do with your faith? With justice work?

Have at it!