My First Oath

A couple weeks ago, I made my way to the Mickey Leland Federal Building here in Houston to get my first passport. As some of you may know my girlfriend Michael is in Honduras for the next two years as a part of the Helpers in Missions program. There she is working with a homeless ministry called Breaking Chains, and Shine Honduras which seeks to provide education for underprivileged kids. I am going to be able to go visit her around Christmas, thanks to a wonderful couple who bought me a ticket.

So I show up to present my application and birth certificate at Mickey's building (I really like the name Mickey, but could not tell you a single fact about Mickey Leland). Everything is going well, there's no line, I turn my phone, then forget my birth certificate in my car. I go retrieve it, then begin the process again. After getting every piece of identification photocopied, the lady behind the counter asked me to put my left hand on the application, and to raise my right hand. I'm sure she got a kick out of the look of confusion on my face as she told me to repeat after her. 

So I, John Carson, swore that I completed the application to the best of my knowledge and that the picture was a good likeness of me. There was a brief moment where I thought "They're going to figure out I've been in Texas longer than I should have without a Texas Drivers License and revoked this thing." Luckily this didn't happen and I now have my passport. 

All of this got me thinking about oaths in the Bible, specifically God's oath with Abraham. In Genesis 24, Abraham is speaking about how God swore on oath that He would give Abraham's offspring land and make them into a great nation. All through the Bible this oath is referenced, and seems to carry a lot of meaning. One of the things that came along with an oath was a seal, which acted as a symbol of that promise. For a weird example of this, read Genesis 38.

When I think about seals it makes me think about one of my favorite songs "Come Thou Fount." We sang it at Impact Sunday and it was amazing. The song ends with these words "Here's my heart, Lord, Take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." When I sing these words it's like I'm making my oath with God and saying I'm His. Also, here's my heart as a symbol of that oath. For me, when I hear the whole congregation singing this song, it's like hearing a bride say to her husband, "I'm yours."

Grace & Peace,
John

3 Days with a Labyrinth

Lately, I find myself having a lot more time without my girlfriend here in Houston, which gives me time to think about interesting things to do with my time. While most people where off to Halloween parties on Saturday night; I was off to draw a labyrinth in Impact's back parking lot, which can be seen below. Now I'm sure the few people that saw me doing this thought I was insane, and drawing something akin to a crop circle or something of the occult.

Many of you may be wondering what exactly a labyrinth is. It is an old term used for mazes and places the Greeks and other cultures used in their mythology. Labyrinth slowly became the term used for any sort of maze or meditation circle. Eventually, it was hijacked by the Christians as a replacement for a pilgrimage. It began to appear on cathedral floors around 1000 AD for people to use as a tool for prayer. There has been a revival of sorts for labyrinths lately, they've been popping up at churches and chapels all over the country.

Chartres Cathedral, France



I was building my labyrinth for an experiment for my Spiritual Formations class, and because I thought it would be something cool my kids could try. A labyrinth walk is a time where the person walking it can think about all the things they need to give up in order to abide with God more fully. Once in the center of the labyrinth the person prays and mediates what is on their heart, and meets with Christ in the center. Now while the person sits, they wait until a word is put on their heart. All the way out of the labyrinth, they meditate on that word and how they can put that into practice into their lives.

I like labyrinths. They make me slow down and contemplate what I need to give up to be with Christ, and forces me to make sure my heart is right and I'm ready before I step the middle of the circle and meet God. They also wind and twist all the way to the center, which I think is a nice metaphor for life. I don't have to think about all the twists and turns that God has me on, I just have to keep stepping towards Him.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that a few of the middle school kids really enjoyed doing it in our class Sunday morning. Our youth team also walked the labyrinth on Monday as per my prayer project for class. It was new to many of them and they felt soothed after the chance to have an intentional time of prayer and meditation. Last night, I took my High School students on a labyrinth walk as a chance to remind us that we have chased desires that will not fulfill us, and that we need to give up these desires and be fulfilled by Christ.

Afterwards many of them spoke of how it gave them the chance to think deeper about their lives and their relationship with God. Some even cried afterwards, which really surprised me. Many people would say that you can't do quiet, contemplative things with inner-city kids. I would agree a lot of the time. Lots of our kids are ADHD, immature, neglected and needing so much attention, that lots of times it's hard to get them quiet during any activity. But it was different with the labyrinth. They stopped. They thought. They walked. They followed the path. And they met with Christ and prayed.

I think there is something fascinating about ancient practices. Many times I think a lot of people would find them boring. On the surface, they really can be boring, but they are deep with rich spiritual meaning. Lectio Divina or Divine Reading, the Book of Common Prayer, and now Labyrinths are all things I would have never guessed my kids would love. My kids strive for God, they do experience Him in these ancient practices. I think I will be incorporating them into our worship times and classes more. Maybe you faithful reader can seek out some of these practices and experience God in a deeper way.

Grace & Peace,
John