imagining how the church can reorient around mission

Dreams I don’t know if you can remember your dreams or not.  I usually cannot.  However, lately I’ve been both dreaming and remembering them in stark detail.  If you are a dream interpreter, get ahold of me.  I would like to know what is lurking around inside my bald dome.  Ok, maybe not!  Anyway, I have had two in the last week that were both elongated and stunning in detail.  They were not the kind where you are being chased by a bear down a beach naked.  I hate those!  These were different: One was about playing basketball with President Obama (quite a happy dream of me teaching Barack how to talk trash in Spanish – I even showed him a sweet In and out move) and another about Fasting from words.  Here is the second one.

In the dream I was blogging and the title of the blog was “Fasting from Words.”  The blog came off vivdly like this:

Fasting from Words

I have decided to fast from “insider” words from my discipline.  I choose not to use words like “missional” and “contextual" and “embedding” and “exegesis” and “incarnational.”

Also, since I am deeply involved in leadership of a non-profit I will also fast from the following words: “Sweet spot” and “wheelhouse” “hierarchical” and “point of the spear.”

And since my wife is now a counselor I will fast from using “insider” words related to her profession like: “enmeshed” and “differentiated” and "projection" and "empathic" and “attachment.”

Now, for the rest of the blog…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

Seriously, that was my dream!  Once I dimissed all the pet words, I had no language at all.  I must admit that I woke up smiling at my subconscious sense of humor. 

Now, for the interpretation!?!?!  Got any ideas?

5 Responses

  1. Those words have been a conduit – bringing me into a new understanding of what I have been taught for years.
    I think they have challenged me “are you a living christian”
    Does the gospel show up it your life – really? or do you only have some “biblical theories?

  2. The post was really to expose how weird and lucid my dreams can be. I would suggest, based upon experiencing you use words, that you stay the course! 🙂

  3. interesting musings to think about for someone who wants to go into “words” for a career, if you know what i mean.
    i’ll leave the interpretation to my mom and dad.

  4. Thanks! I have been told that if a 3rd grader can’t understand what you are saying, you are not truly communicating. The insider language is really a gesture of power over others.

  5. “Henri Nouwen somewhere relates a story from Abba Felix. It goes like this.
    When a man is hungry he builds a trap to catch fish. When the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
    When a man needs God he uses words. When he finds God, the words are forgotten.
    Where is the man who has forgotten words? He is the one I want to talk to..”
    Read this in a post by Len Hjalmarson today. If I were you I’d go with this…