Black Belt Spirituality

    Going through an old blog, I found an old sermon I posted. I generally don't like my old sermons. But I dig this part of it. So I am re posting. Apparently this was my most popular post.                   For me, this story, this Christian life is not about us “finding Jesus.” I’m sure you've heard some Christians ask you “Have you found Jesus?” My first thought is always to answer “I didn't know he was missing, did you look behind the couch?” I make myself laugh sometimes.             But there is truth in my joke. Jesus is not the one to be found. Sure, a relationship with him should be sought after, but Jesus not the one that is lost. For me, every day is one that I must ask myself, what has separated me from God? What has lead me astray from my relationship with Jesus? Will I LET JESUS FIND ME?             You see, because Jesus has already found us. He has already accepted us for who we are; cuts, bruises messiness and all. I recently read a chapter of theolog

Life sucks sometimes. It's hard. But we were never promised an easy life, we are almost always guaranteed a tough life. Scripture is chock full of examples of life being hard, of it sucking, of it beating the crap out of people. But it talks about a God who continues to walk with us and love us and ask us to live for others. Life is worth it. Because how we live our lives shapes us and it can shape others. Watch this short video about Caio Terra, a Ju-Jitsu black belt. He speaks much wisdom. He is speaking about martial arts but the ideas apply to all of life.

I found a post that I posted last year for Lent. And the message applies today. Especially now that my blog is on black belt spirituality: I've gone and updated it as needed but I hope it does what I hope to continue doing with this blog: Incorporating martial arts, spirituality and Christianity.  Enjoy: My therapy this week was great. Physically painful, but great. But what  therapist would inflict physical pain on their clients you might ask. Not many. And for me, therapy is actually my training at my Tae Kwon Do dojang. It was painful tonight because on 8 months ago while doing take down drills I fell improperly and rolled my shoulder, and this week I aggravated it. Oh well, I love it, and pain just reminds me I'm alive. (Twisted, right!?) Tae Kwon Do has been a part of my life for the better part of 25 years. It has been a valuable source of discipline and structure. Also it instills the values of honor, self respect and respect for others and perseverance. ( How do the

Recently while helping teach a children's martial arts class I was reminded of something. For those who don't know, I am a third dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Hence the name of my blog.   At one point, to encourage the kids, the head instructor stopped everyone and said the following.  "You are martial ARTISTS! I want to see you create your ART!"   Kicking and punching as art? Yes! Art. We are living breathing contradictions. We learn the martial. The mechanics of defense.  But we also train in a spiritual mind and body art. We strive to sync the emotional, the physical and yes the spiritual. A constant journey of self learning and self actualization.    Now did the kids fully understand that.  Probably not.  But I almost did.  It reconnected me with the artistic(read spiritual) side of my work out.  I gave a talk to a group of Chaplains about this this afternoon.  I hope it was effective.  Keep moving on the journey of self knowledge and

Reflection given in Chapel today.          Have you ever gone somewhere and been so immersed in thought or discussion that you don’t noticed that you've past a few people along the way. Or maybe gone on a road trip and get so lost in thought that you arrive at your destination and think, “Hey, how did I get here!?” There’s been a few mornings I have arrived at Bristol Glen and wondered that.  In this afternoons passage we join two of Jesus’  followers, Cleopas and his unnamed companion, who were not of the inner 11 disciples. These two followers are are walking. Where they are going, ultimately, we don't know only that they are on the road to Emmaus, a town 7 miles west of Jerusalem.  Its Easter, towards the end of the day. They are walking west, into the sunset. Into darkness.The sun is probably in their eyes, keeping them from recognizing this stranger who joins them on their walk. Their walking but they aren't paying attention.1  When I look at this passage, I

This post is a reflection I shared in chapel at the continuing care facility I work in for Palm Sunday.        I’m sure that most of us have watched or can remember watching a military parade. Some may remember the victory parades after WW2. I can remember the parades after the First Gulf War. The returning army marching in all their glory. The Commanders, with their glistening medals and badges proudly leading the parades.  I remember that when I was in high school, I fell in love with American history; specifically Civil War history after watching the movie Gettysburg and then visiting the battlefield. I think I have been there at least 5 times, not that I was counting. But what drew me in was the regalia of military pomp and circumstance. The drama of the victory, and defeat. I mean who doesn't like a good story about a victorious warrior marching into his city to the cheer, and adoration of the people. It can be very moving. (more so maybe if you are on the winning side. )

        I love this middle part of John’s Gospel. From chapter 5 through 12, John’s Gospel deals with unbelief. Well, persecution and unbelief, but today I want to focus on the unbelief. John’s Gospel is the Gospel of Love, a spiritual manifest of who Jesus declares, repeatedly, who he is. And we don't we believe him. I think it would be safe to assume, that a lot of us go through periods of belief and unbelief. I’ll let you in on a little secret. I did. It was only for about two years, but who’s keeping track. I know many folks in ministry, maybe more so in my field of chaplaincy, that struggle continuously with unbelief. But it doesn't make you a bad person, and especially not a bad Christian.  I recently read a quote by Timothy Keller. He’s a well known Presbyterian Pastor and has written about experiencing God during periods of doubt and struggle. He says: “The basic premise of religion-that if you live a good life, things will go well for you-is wrong. Jesus was t

I haven't posted in a few days. Lenten Fail. But as I tell folks I encounter in the hospital and nursing home; We believe in a God of forgiveness... So here is a sermonette I will be giving at work this week. Enjoy.          This weekend I had the chance to take my confirmation class to a service at a pentecostal church. It was quite a change from the traditional presbyterian worship we are used to and for the kids in the class it was quiet the change and almost shocking. If you aren't familiar with the Pentecostal church, a focus of much of their belief is focused on the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit. But the focus of our scripture this afternoon is Jesus. Who Jesus is, what authority he has, and what happens after the final resurrection.  Jesus in our passage is talking about the time that is coming when he will call out to the dead. And those dead shall hear his voice and they’ll live again! Pretty impressive stuff right? To think that something t

Today marks Saint Patrick's Day.  So what do green beer, parades, Leprechaun's, snakes and all things Irish have to do with the saint we call Patrick? Absolutely Nothing! Patrick was actually Scottish (possibly Welsh or English, depending on your source) who as a boy was taken into slavery in Ireland. Only after escaping at 20 and returning to Britain did Patrick become a bishop and return to Ireland as a missionary. Read some history  here  and  here . But what can we learn from St Patrick.  We can learn how it means to truly be a follower of Christ. How we can love our enemies as our neighbors. Going back to minister to those who enslaved you is pretty radical showing of God's love. We can learn to be rooted in the mystery of the trinity and work of Christ. "I bind this day to me for ever. By power of faith, Christ's incarnation; His baptism in the Jordan River; His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spiced tomb; His riding up t

There are certain times in our day or in our lives that can be routine. We can get seem to be stuck in the same old thing, doing the mundane of life. We have our daily "to-do lists." Our morning stop for coffee on the way to work, reaching for our iPhone to check Facebook as soon as we wake up.(Guilty as charged)Taking a moment to thank God for that breath, coffee or phone.  Little or big things that we do, subconsciously or not, that define our days. Now I sit here writing this in my office, realizing as I drink my coffee and check my usually websites before doing the task of visitations. The mundane can take a big chunk out of our day. For me, this blog is an intentional break from the mundane. Its a break from my routine, and a chance for me to work out my thoughts with whom ever actually reads it. Anyone? Buehler....Buehler? And thats the thing about this serious yet joyous time of Lent. This seriously joyous time of Lent. Its a time to intentionally break from our

Yesterday I spent the day with a good friend walking through the Cloisters in New York City. It's a great part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was built from the bones of 5 cloisters in Europe. Click here to check it out and plan a trip!  We saw dead people. Okay, not really but we saw tombs. I spent the time in contemplative  thought in the various chapels and looking at religious art.  It was a very nice day, and refreshing for my lenten journey. I felt a connection to the great history of spiritual observance and imagery of the church. There is a great beauty of having the stories of the bible and the passion of Christ presented on the detail of stone sculpture or simple wooden cross.  I feel that we as protestants tend to shy away from Liturgical art. The whole graven images/idolatry issue.  But there is something to be said for medieval church art. Not only was it a tool of the church to teach illiterate congregants, but it served as a reminder to focus our eyes and

Yesterday I sat in my office at the nursing home towards the end of the day I had the chance to chat with the daughter of a resident. I had grown close to this resident, and this week the resident passed away. Her daughter had been in that day collecting items and preparing to empty her mom's apartment; and she stopped in to thank me for helping out her mom. (Mom having struggled with bi-polar disorder and all that that entails) During our chat the daughter was thanking me for being part of her moms life and bringing her comfort. All very nice compliments, but I had to thank her as well for the honor I had to be part of her mom's life; truly we were both better for our relationship. That's the great part of chaplaincy, you get to share in people's spiritual and life journeys, however brief that walk together may be. That's kind of what Lent is about. Yes, its a time to remember that we are created beings. To remember that we are flawed beings. That we are beings

Before you call me crazy and tell me to look outside at the foot of frozen snow we still have outside, let me say again Yay it's springtime! Yes, I know officially, spring doesn't start until March 20th or the spring equinox. But for those of us observing the Christian calender and the period of fasting before Easter, we call it Lent. And Lent in old English means spring. So, there's that. It's Spring; be happy. Lent is perhaps the most serious season in the Church calender. We take time to pray and fast. We consider our mortality and our sinfulness. We take time to look within ourselves. We look to do penitence and confession. (Scary Roman Catholic-y sounding words for some of my Protestant friends I am sure). But, they are biblical, and they focus us towards Christ. We are called to look at our lives and examine them in light of the one we call Lord. Its a good time to be honest with ourselves and with God. So this Lent I suggest you take some time to earnestly

Growing up as a kid, like many kids, I paid no mind the the church  calendar. Unless it was Christmas. I was a kid after all. When I was in high school, I began to explore my faith. I was enrolled in a Catholic school, while being confirmed into a Presbyterian Church.  That's when I began to notice the weird (to me) practice every Lent of my classmates walking around with smudges of ash on their forehead.  So what exactly is Ash Wednesday.  For some of my Protestant friends, yes I agree, there is no biblical directive for us to celebrate Ash Wednesday. Just like there isn't a directive to celebrate Christmas or Easter. But there is at its core a great biblical theology of creation, sin, our mortality, grace and death.  It calls us to community in our shared brokenness and the humility of our mortality.  The last few Ash Wednesdays I have spent imposing ashes in a major Hospital in the City. The same hospital that I did my chaplaincy training and now work as a per die