ReImagine

Last year Dieter had a sudden stroke that left him significantly
disabled with a speech impediment and some physical paralysis. Known
and loved for his ability to teach and inspire, with an exceptional
gift for making people aware of God’s presence through music, this
stroke, as you may well imagine, has been simply devastating.

“What does the second half of life look like when so much of
what you have known and been identified with has taken from you? And
how do I comfort a friend who has suffered and lost so much?”

I pondered these questions as I drove up to Dieter’s home. When
he got into my car to go to lunch he turned to me and said, “Mark. Talk
slow. We go slow. Talking with me will be relaxing– we take our time
O.K?” I took this as a gentle chastisement for my hurry and wordiness–
and as an invitation to be present and still.

I reflected to Dieter that I am now the age that he was when we
met– and that I spend a lot of my time with people much like I once
was–young, ambitious and idealistic. Over the years my respect and
appreciation for Dieter has grown as I move through the various
passages of adulthood.

We sit across from one another at a local brewpub, talking
slowly, sometimes eating in awkward silence and with eyes full of
tears. Even with his limited capacity for speech Dieter finds ways to
convey his love, concerns and affirmation. I’ve come here today to pay
my respects to a mentor, to receive his wisdom about the struggles and
seasons of life, and maybe to offer some encouragement and comfort.
“Mark, I’m in the winter, ” he says, “The spring. The summer. They were
new and exciting. The fall was still colorful– even when you feel the
chill of winter coming. But the winter, here it is dark and cold. You
are in the fall, headed towards winter, where I am. We don’t know when
or if spring and summer will come again.” I tentatively ask Dieter how
he is learning to make sense of the unfolding story of his life. “It
would take a long time for me to explain,” he says, “Its hard to talk
about. Maybe you and I will go on a retreat someday and I will tell
you. For now I will say– I know that God loves me more than I ever knew
before– and that my family and my friends are so important– and I love
the small things– the food and drink, sunshine, sleep, and walking with
my dog. To love and be loved is what really matters to me now. It took
me along time to learn this.”

On our way back from lunch Dieter asks me to stop by Costco so
he can pick up some photo prints– a new way he has discovered to
capture the beauty he finds in God’s world and the faces of people.
Back in the car he flips through the small stack of pictures with great
delight. And they are simple and lovely scenes. At great cost, Dieter
and Val are teaching me, and many others, how to embrace hope in the
seasons and sufferings of life.

Tuesday night 35 of us gathered for the first session of EXPERIMENTS IN TRUTH, a 40 day experiment in which we are inviting one another into the laboratory of personal transformation inspired by ancient themes of obedience, surrender and vows. (A vow is a tangible expression of good sentiment). We spent some time exploring some historic and scriptural background on the physicality of spiritual formation, including the relationship between our efforts and the work of the Spirit. As a group we went through a methodical process of developing our individual experiments. This process went something like this:

STEP ONE: EXAMINE YOUR LIFE. Where do you sense the greatest need for transformation in how you live in your body, mind, feelings, time, relationships, spending, possessions, and vocation? We wrote down the first things that came to our minds—and reminded each other that the goal of examen is not shame, but to hear the kind invitation from our maker into rest and more fulfilling paths.

STEP TWO: IDENTIFY THE PRIORITY CHANGES YOU DESIRE.  We looked through our lists and circled the three life energy areas where we sensed the greatest need for transformation. For each we considered how the teaching of Jesus and the ancient scripture speaks to that issue. Then we thought about the habits and systems of choices that have perpetuated the patterns we seek to change.

STEP THREE: DESIGN YOUR EXPERIMENT. We spent time alone and then in pairs brainstorming specific experiments to address the issues we identified—including actions we will abstain from and engage in over the next 40 days.

STEP FOUR: COMMIT TO YOUR PLAN: We worked through the details of our experiments in dyads, putting them down in writing, and signed them as a contract. (Some groups finished and others took theirs home to complete).

A FEW WORDS OF FOCUS & ENCOURAGEMENT:

On face value, these experiments might seem to be more about our effort than God’s intervention. What we are primarily exploring in this Learning Lab are the themes of obedience and submission. There is a point at which transformation requires brute effort and obedience—a change of will reflected in a change of behavior.  Even God cannot go against your will—the power that has been given to you to rule in the kingdom of your body, time, feelings, mind, relationships, money and vocation.  

At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus concluded with a story about wise and foolish builders, suggesting that his message could only be transformative for people who took action to live in the reality of the kingdom he described. With Experiments in Truth we are gently confronted with our responsibility to cooperate with the work of the Spirit by surrendering to the rule of love in the details of our lives. We are trying to act more in line with reality than the fantasy or nightmare world we partially have created for ourselves.  It is an experiment in TRUTH because the message of Jesus calls us into the light of God’s presence, power and care in our world and in our lives.

Through your experiments the next 40 days you are confronting some long-standing habits that you have determined are barriers to flowing in the way of generativity and love. Don’t be surprised if you experience some resistance from your body, your mind and perhaps from some of the people in your life. It is both liberating and discomforting to experiment with new patterns of action.  You can do it! You were made with the power to choose! There may be struggle, but a new way is possible.

REINVENTION!

Cities like San Francisco seem to attract people who wish to reinvent themselves. I’ve seen professional women dressed in financial district attire abruptly change careers, becoming massage therapists or hippy mamas. I watched my 38-year old neighbor, a slacker covered in tattoos, morph into a successful businessman and real estate tycoon. I saw a shy and awkward young women from small town America transform herself into a hipster scene diva in only six months! We are enthralled and inspired by the possibilities of reinvention. But quitting a job, getting a haircut or buying new clothes is often the easiest part. What is more difficult is learning to become a new person from the inside out—discovering new motivations, breaking old habits or finding a source of energy and love that is greater than your own.

One of the reasons Jesus became such a popular teacher among the poor and discontent of his day is that he awakened their hope that “a new way is possible.” Perhaps our fascination with reinvention stems from the deeper longing we have for “newness” to come to our lives—to experience greater freedom, creativity, purpose, vitality, healing, and restoration. Jesus spoke of a new power for living in the reality of the reign of love that can be accessed immediately. He even had the audacity to say, “the kingdom of God is within you.” How can we learn to tap into the generative energy of the Spirit that already dwells in the nearest place of our being? The path Jesus offered his listeners was, “Repent!” In Hebrew this implies “to return” & “to feel sorrow” and the Greek term “metanoia” suggests “to think differently after…  to have a change of mind and heart.” In contemporary vernacular we might say, “Dream up your whole life again! Reinvent yourself. Rethink your whole way of being! Reimagine!” 

Reinvention can sound exciting until you realize that transformation may require painful soul surgery and ongoing therapy of mind and body. We begin to imagine a new way first by considering what the old and tired patterns are that need to change. This practice, sometimes called examin, is illustrated by this ancient prayer:  “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Once you recognize what specifically needs reinvented or reimagined, you can formulate a plan about how you will seek to cooperate with the generative work of the Spirit.

Right now you might be thinking, “Wait, that sounds like hard work? Wouldn’t it be better if I could take a little pink pill or have God magically change me?”  Yes, that would be easier, but you would be missing an essential truth--We were made to cooperate and collaborate with our creator. You have been given great authority and powerful life energy—a mind, body, time, resources, presence in relationships, and natural and cultivated talents. In fact you aren’t far from being a god yourself! But you have probably developed destructive ways of using your essential life energies.  Reinvention and transformation requires that you learn to use your essential life energies in new ways—doing what you are capable of doing to direct and discipline your body, your mind, your resources, your time and talents. If you do what you have the power to do, the creator will do what you cannot. In this way, grace is not opposed to effort and action. This is why one of the earlier followers of Jesus wrote, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who works in you to will and to act according to [God’s] good purpose.” The new way to be human is about learning to surrender your life energy to the way of love. This involves taking risks and experimenting with new ways to channel your life energy.

Mahatma Gandhi subtitled his biography “The story of my experiments with truth.” He saw the details of his daily life as a laboratory for learning how to love God and people. Since ancient times earnest spiritual seekers have explored how to discipline their minds and bodies—leveraging their lives towards a greater purpose. An early advocate of the way of Jesus wrote to his apprentice, “train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  Jesus serves as a model of a life formed by absolute surrender to love. Dallas Willard memorably suggests:

 “The star performer himself didn’t achieve excellence by trying to behave in a certain way only during the game. Instead, he chose an overall life of preparation of mind and body, pouring all his energies into that total preparation...And in this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke: the secret involves living as [Jesus] lived in the entirety of his life-- adopting his overall lifestyle. Following “in his steps” cannot be equated with behaving as he did when he was “on the spot.” To live as Christ lived is to live as he did all of his life....the secret of the standard, historically proven spiritual disciplines is precisely that they do respect and count on the bodily nature of human personality.” (From Spirit of the Disciplines)

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Matthew 11: 28-30

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Tuesdays February 24-April 7

65 Dorland San Francisco 94110

Cost: $60-$100 sliding scale (scholarships available upon request)

Register Here: http://reimagine.org/node/8

The master invites us to rethink or reimagine our whole lives in light of the Maker’s dream of greater wholeness for our world. This Learning Lab explores the physicality of spiritual formation. If I change what I do in my mind and body, how will it effect my capacity to flow with the creators energy & love? (what I eat? How I spend my time? The media I consume? How I use my money? Who I spend my time with?) This practical workshop seeks to deal with the disparity we often feel between how we want to live and how we actually live. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and facing his greatest shadows and temptations. Participants in this Learning Lab will engage in practices aimed at confronting our own shadows and obstacles to the spiritual life through “experiments in truth.” 

 Participants in this Learning Lab will be invited to develop :

• a transformative experience applying disciplines of abstinence and engagement to your personal growth issues through a 40 day experiment
• a greater understanding of the holistic nature and physicality of spiritual formation. (Spiritual development as holistic life development)
• a comprehensive personal growth plan and rule of life that helps you maintain momentum & consistency
• an identified mentor who will meet with you at least six times a year to help you work through your growth plan
• a practical understanding and experience of group discernment that helps you listen to your life, hear the voice of the Spirit and receive the wisdom and insight of friends to help you have greater clarity about your decisions.

COURSE SCHEDULE:

February 24            Introduction to spiritual formation and “experiments in truth” including how Jesus modeled and taught acetic practices and watchfulness.

EXERCISE: Develop and commit to a 40-day “experiment in truth” that addresses 3 key life growth areas with abstinence and engagement.

(February 26)            Begin 40 day experiment

March 3:            Discernment and listening as individual and communal practices. 

EXERCISE: Send feedback inventory to 5 trusted friends/ elders.

March 10:  Developing your personal growth plan—setting goals for growth in various life dimensions.

EXERCISE: Work through outline for your personal growth plan.

(March 17)                        (No meeting—St. Patrick’s Day)

March 24: How to identify and utilize the power of having a spiritual mentor.

EXERCISE: Make initial contact with a potential spiritual mentor or peer mentor.

March 31: Developing your personal rule of life—yearly rhythms, commitments and practices to sustain your spiritual formation.

EXERCISE: Develop a personal rule of life in conjunction with your growth plan.

April 7: Processing the benefits and insights gained through your 40-day “experiments in truth.” (potluck dinner/celebration)

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Awakening Creativity

Exploring the hidden story of your life

­Do you aspire to be more creative? Since ancient times spiritual seekers have expressed their longings through poetry, art and song—and the artist often encounters the divine through their work. Many have observed the vital link between creativity, personal spirituality and transformation. This six-week Learning Lab will explore how to integrate creativity, theology and personal narrative. A final show featuring the creative work of participants will occur on Friday February 13 from 7-10 P.M.

(Painting by Holly Sharp)

DATES: Tuesdays January 6 through February 10 from 7-9 P.M. Final performance/ art event Friday February 13.

COST: $60-$80 sliding scale (Includes curriculum, art materials and facility use) plus $20 for art event hosting.

LOCATION: 65 Dorland St, SF, CA

Register Online

In this Learning Lab participants will:

• Learn to use daily journaling, a weekly walk and artist date as tools for creative transformation.
• Study the life and teachings of Jesus as an archetype for creative living.
• Explore personal narrative through artistic mediums (including poetry, dance, prose, music, sculpture, drawing and painting).
• Discuss their process and discoveries in a small group encounter setting.
• Create a compilation book from weekly exercises for display at the art event on February 13, 2009.

Facilitated by Adam Klein & Mark Scandrette

Adam Klein is the Operations Director of ReIMAGINE, runs an IT consulting business in the bay area,is a poet and endurance athlete. Adam is fascinated with experiments and practices that help integrated the whole person and loves to share his experiences.

Mark Scandrette is the Executive Director of ReIMAGINE, a popular spiritual teacher, actor and poet, who is the author of the book Soul Graffiti: Making a Life in the way of Jesus.

Enter|Silence

A silent prayer retreat

­Jesus came proclaiming union with God, the seed of life planted in us. The practice of prayer aids us in removing the layers that cover up this reality and help us move toward finding the life breath of God within us. Prayer is not merely the utterance of words or petitions. It is life with God in everything we do. Through new experiences, information and reflection we are able to awaken the dormant pulse of God that resides within. This will be a facilitated retreat during which participants practice different disciplines of contemplative prayer. If you are looking for a time to practice silence and create space within please join us. We are looking forward to creating an environment in which we can enter the presence of our Creator.

Dates: Feb. 20 - 22, 2009

Cost: $100 (includes breakfast, lunch, & dinner on Saturday, breakfast & lunch on Sunday, snacks and lodging.)

Location: A private cabin within 3 hours of San Francisco

Register Online­

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