Monday, August 30, 2010

Sunday to Monday - Speaking of Faith

Yesterday I learned that my favorite podcast, Speaking of Faith, is changing its name to 'Being.' The reason sited was that many listeners reported that a title with the word faith in it was an obstacle for them. The title 'Being' intendes to capture the essense of the program that is about 'religion, ethics, meaning and ideas.' For me the title change moves the intersection of ideas from the place where our horizontal personal focus meets our veritical wider-than-self focus to a more limited view of only the personal focus. For me both the horizontial and vertical are essential to a full life.

So Speaking of Faith is what we do when we move from Sunday to Monday. For Christians, Sunday is the start of the week, a day that we emphasize the vertical focus. We literally look upward when we gather in community and put ourselves in direct relationship to God and one another. We literally look upward and are lifted through worship and prayer together. For Christians, Monday is the day we practice the intersection of that vertical focus with our horizontal personal focus. It is meant to be a balance, every changing and dynamic and not a formula. It is meant to be creative and not a receipe. It is meant to bring the wider life we know in God in Christ into our lives and those around us.

Here are some ways this week for Speaking of Faith:
Each morning name five things you love about your life and name five things that you love about your relationship with God.
Prepare for the start of your faith communities year by identifying what you want to learn about you believe and how can your church help you learn that.
Pray for your children, or grandchildren, or children of the neighborhood as they begin the new adventure of the school year.
Pray for the teachers, administrators, and school bus drivers for the work they do.