I Need A Vision for my Closet
Hey folks. We’ve been exploring ideas framed by the metaphor of “spring cleaning our religious closets” for the past few weeks. I’ve found our conversations fascinating, and I feel deeply grateful to be part of a community in which people feel safe to talk about what’s in (or what used to be in, or is no longer in) their religious closets. Last week we had Marie Kondo and Jimmy Kimmel as our guests. Yep, we’ve got that kind of budget. Marie was tasked with helping Jimmy clean up his office. As part of their interaction, Kondo told Jimmy he needs a vision for what he wants the space to be. I’m not inclined or equipped to to judge Mr. Kimmel, but in the context of the video I would say that might not have happened. And no surprise really – this is a much harder idea than it sounds like! What’s a “vision” anyway? That’s a fairly spiritual word / concept.
As we’ve been having these conversations, I’ve been struck by how tangled together religion and spirituality have been in many of our lives, and how there’s a tension that arises from that entanglement in our present cultural context in which so many people would say they are “spiritual but not religious”. It’s become almost a trope in it’s ubiquitousness, but I think it’s still a meaningful phrase. And I think it’s connected to the idea of “vision”. So this Sunday, I want to offer a few ideas about the relationship between how we think about “spirituality” and how that might inform our vision for what we retain in our religious closets.
For those of you that follow along by podcast, and have been noticing that there’s a real dearth of them lately, the main reason is that much of this exploration has taken place through conversations in our Sunday morning gatherings. One of the things that makes those gatherings safe places is that we don’t podcast them – we don’t put people’s personal sharing on the internet without their consent. This kind of exploring is best done in person. Where we can, we’ll offer some snippets online, but otherwise you have to be present to participate. I know that’s not possible for everyone, and wish it was. It’s so delightful to not only hear, but see, people we know and love take the risk of exploring the deep things with one another. It’s beautiful.
Some details:
Location– We’re are at Creative Manitoba (fourth floor, despite the “in elevator” signage that says Creative Manitoba in only on the third floor) this week and next, after which we move to the University of Winnipeg for three weeks. We’ll keep you posted on our peripatetic summer adventures.
Kids Table– rockin’. Need I say more?
Finances– A reminder to those that help sustain our shared experiences in this way; we want to raise an additional $5000 before July 1st to see us through the lean months of summer when we all blast off to the park / beach / cottage / backyard and forget to make donations. You can give in person at The Table on Sundays, and online at our website any time by clicking on the “Giving” tab. Donations are tax deductible.
I’ll see you on Sunday.
Peace,
Tim Plett