Author: Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Wilburn

“In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, for I live and you will live” — Alleluia! I listened to the monks of Conception Abbey chant these words of Jesus. I felt a peace settle within me: it’s the end of Easter – seven weeks after the Resurrection, then the next day is Pentecost (this year, May 31st). “Go and make disciples…” says Jesus at the end of Matthew’s gospel. We call this The Great Commission, but I think it should be called The Great Permission. Jump to Acts chapter 1 (verse six) and we find the disciples asking Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” The disciples wanted the kingdom to come, on earth as in heaven. They wanted Permission to GO – to make it so. The disciples were still, even at this last moment before Jesus’ ascension, still thinking of “empire and conquest” – “Now Jesus, will you kick out the Romans and restore King David’s reign when we were top nation?” “Yes, the kingdom is come,” Jesus replies. “But not how you think.” The telling TURN comes next. Jesus ascends. Two men dressed in white stand there beside them. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky…?” The two men say Jesus is coming back. But...

“My God, it is that gap and that distance which kill me.” — Thomas Merton, Seven Storey Mountain, p421 I just came back from retreat. Three days at Conception Abbey. It wasn’t that great. I was befuddled, anxious, distracted. I hadn’t been on retreat since the end of March. See, this is what happens. I lost my rhythm. And to boot, preaching, two funerals, and going to China in a couple of weeks. Merton felt a gap between g-d and him. He craved constant connection with g-d – constant Presence. Truthfully, all I live in is gap. It is the all-too-infrequent spark of the divine that snaps me to attention. But the sparks are few and far between… too far between. The answer: flee, flee, flee. Flee to silence. Flee productivity. Flee. My hands got ahead of my heart and my mind. I stopped taking every thought captive to g-d. I settled in for Control of my universe. And I do so naturally – control is my default setting. Flee inward to solitude. Stare down the false self. Cut deep. Go to the dark night and wrestle all night and walk away limping. But – also – get a new name: one who wrestles with g-d. Yes. Flee and wrestle. There is no other way. All else is just self-made sin management, meant to put me in control. Close...

Parents spend much of their time raising children from the Expert perspective. While this is reasonable, it doesn’t convey Wisdom. I suggest we think of ourselves more as Poets, Priests/Priestesses and Prophets/Prophetesses. Poet Emily Dickinson said, “Tell the truth, but tell it slant.” The parent doesn’t have know poetry to act as poet. Poets interpret culture and the world around them for others. A parent must make a turn toward god – gain the eyesight to view all as god’s. The sounds in the woods are god’s; the sky and stars, lightning and thunder are god’s artwork. The Expert explains such natural theology as Science. But the Poet interprets them as belonging to god. The Priest ushers the child into the Divine Presence. Priestess intermediates the reality of god in our world. So to teach children how to pray is primary. By prayer I certainly do not mean just asking god for stuff and goodness. By prayer I mean listening for god’s voice. As Eugene Peterson puts it, “prayer must be a response to something god has said.” Centering Prayer is a practice of taking every thought captive to god… of echoing Jesus’ prayer, “not my will but your will Father.” Frank X. Jelenek wrote “Journey to the Heart: Centering Prayer for Children.” His children’s book describes and walks a child through this deeper relationship with god. The parent...

I respond to Mint.com’s recent visual comparison between the US and China. I read the Economist, so I tend to see/read this economic/political/spiritual stuff – at least from their paper’s view. And I read a few other items about China here and there, because I have my antenna up for anything on China. The Newsweek special reports never satisfy me. Just too entertainment driven. So the Mint.com stats revealed more. What gets interesting to me with the Mint.com and China “vs.” USA (vs?? really? they are our enemy?) scenario is this: you have a cash-rich China, and no customers now (our money dried up). If they can sell to themselves, good. But they’ll have to spread that cash (our cash btw) around. Which they are attempting lavishly. But will it be enough? Furthermore, China seems a little “angry” with the west b/c we aren’t buying as much (amids other things like our incessant nosiness into their internal affairs.) Go figure – like our buying Chinese goods could just go on forever! I contend our “cash” wasn’t cash at all, but consumer debt. Not savings, not hard assets or materials – just trillions in trashy expensive short term debt. The trade imbalance was/is staggering between China and the US. Also, part of China’s anger comes from their inherent swagger. Chinese superiority has always been there. I see and feel it...