Larry Norman on divorce

"It takes two people to get married, but it only takes one person to get a divorce."

How true, my brother, how true! And now you can rest from that with our Lord, and from the slander and persecution you endured over the years. Thanks for being true to your calling and to our Lord no matter the assaults.

Larry Norman has passed

Larry Norman, the "father of christian rock," has passed on to be with the Lord. Larry's concert in Houston in 1979 was the first christian concert I ever saw, and I will never forget it. (ArkAngel, Kemper Crabb's band opened, and we were on the 4th row -- it was quite deafening!). Larry showed me it was OK to be a christian and yet be myself, and rock. He made some great music (rock, folk, and worship) over the years, and challenged us to love God and live for Him.


www.larrynorman.com

I'll keep a Larry song and video up for a few days at www.myspace.com/chapelofstfrancis.

May the angels receive you into Paradise, Larry.

Roy Schieder

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Roy Schieder at 75. According to his wife, Brenda Siemer, he had suffered from multiple myeloma for several years, and died of complications from a staph infection.

Schieder starred in numerous movies, and the one released in '76 is one of my all-time favorites.

May the angels receive you into Paradise, Chief Brody.

A short prayer

This is a prayer of Ignatius of Loyala. We don't know if it was actually written by him. It's a meditation on the cross.


Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

Oh good Jesus, hear me.
Within thy wounds hide me.
From the malicious enemy defend me.
In the hour of my death call me,
and bid me come to thee,
that with thy saints I may praise thee,
forever and ever. Amen.

I love music


"Circles" by Switchfoot is on. Sounds great. It's Chinese New Year, and since my wife is mostly Chinese and part Japanese, I'm heading over pretty soon to an authentic Chinese restaurant and pick us up some lunch, to celebrate, when she comes home for lunch. (We both work tonight, so that's nixed us going anywhere tonight.)

I was just sitting here, enjoying my coffee, and kind of thinking about/wondering why it is I like music so much. Shirley likes it, too, but not even in the ballpark of how I like it. Now "Awakening" is on. Cool band, I like 'em. Would like to see them. I remember as a kid building a fort in our garage, and bringing out my transistor radio, comic books, and chips and a soda. I remember my fascination with the music on the radio -- KILT in Houston was the station, it was Top 40 -- and one day they played Cream, Helen Reddy, and Zeppelin all back-to-back. And then their cool jingle aired -- "The Big Six Tennnnn....!" And I was blown away. The music and radio fascinated me all at once. Mom had a great record collection -- everything from the Beatles, to the Ventures, some country and pop -- I grew up listening to all kinds of cool stuff.

My taste all these years later is still as varied. I grew up wanting to play drums, but my parents didn't want the noise, even from the garage! So I began playing in my late 20's. I was adopted, and my understanding is that I've got a biological relative who was a concert pianist....! So I'm probably going to learn how to play piano (banged on the keys yesterday, writing a song for Fung-eye). This music thing must be in my genes. (Maybe I also need to find out who this person is.....)

Music has been a joy and a comfort to me my whole life. I love immensely listening to and playing it. I am thrilled to watch other people play live. I love hearing music with energy and that is well-played, in nearly whatever genre.

Thank God for great and wonderful music.

Dealing With Me

OK, I'm letting Lent happen. (Of course, what choice do I have -- it's here !) What I mean is, if you read in my previous post, I always come to Lent with a jumble of emotions, and even as a monk, I've never seemed to completely get my brain around this idea of "soul-searching" and the like. Yes, I enjoy being quiet and still before our Lord, and enjoying Him. And hearing from the Spirit concerning me, and where I am to be led.

But today, it's a bit deeper. Shirley and I are "Shorty-sitting." Shorty is Sr. Clare's miniature dachsund, and he's been an honorary brother in our order since day one (he's even got his own little habit...!). He's more than a mascot, he's our example: he loves unconditionally. Shirley's at work, I go in later, so it's me and Shorty and Athalia hanging this morning. And the folk-rock band "Seeds" is on -- they're form the Jesus People Covenant Church and community in Uptown Chicago, a group I had the privilege of living and ministering with in the early 90's. Great band and great bunch of people who love and serve.

In "Never Be The Same," here's the line --
So surrender your heart
To the maker of the stars
And the mover of the great four winds
And the healer of your soul
Shirley and I know about the four great winds and the surrender -- we're in Oklahoma City! We moved here from Houston in late '06 without jobs waiting, believing it to be God's will. And He has provided. AND blessed.

But I'm restless. Some of it is good and some of it is not. Time to be transparent: since I've been ordained, I've felt the call of the world stronger than I have in years. Yep, it's true. Now, don't misunderstand -- I'm happy and content with all God has given: my wonderful wife Shirley, our home, all His blessings to us, my new service as a priest (yeah, that's cool, still gettin' my feet wet!), and my awesome daughter Cheyenne, even if I rarely get top see her -- maybe I'll finally post on here about that. (Although, as a priest and a christian, I must try to do it in a way that doesn't directly slam anyone -- I'll let my writing with Fung-eye handle the slam, www.myspace.com/fungeye, check out the song "Fly Me Away.")

Music is one of the pulls. Let me be very straightforward here -- a christian is to do what he/she is called to do. Some of us are to make music and art, period, and that making isn't (for some) supposed to be an evangelistic tool. You may disagree with me. That's OK. Take a look at Bach, and then email me, and we'll talk. Some others are supposed to do music as a ministry. I'm probably supposed to do that (more than just playing in the church worship band). It's easier to just write for, and play in Fungeye. We'll finish the cd (full-length, 11 or so songs) and play out in clubs or wherever. Fungeye is not an evangelistic tool, nor is the band a ministry. Yeah, we're all christians. But we write about life, and have fun doing it. My life personally is to help people come to Christ and walk with Him, but the band's purpose is not to do that. It's to make good music. Honestly, that's easier for me. I want to just go and rock. And do ministry in another part of my life.

Doesn't work that way. Our lives are not to be compartmentalized -- one part christian and another part just regular. No, ALL of our life is christian. He is to have everything. But, homnestly, right now, the pull is very hard from the world, the flesh, and the devil, to do a lot of things I should not do -- things I am commanded to NOT do. Don't act shocked. Here's why I wrote this -- because you feel the pull, too. It's human and normal, we just feel it in different ways. Being tempted is not a sin. How we feel is not a sin; it's the dwelling on something that's wrong and the acting on something that's wrong -- now, THAT IS sin.

This Lenten season, join me, as weak human beings, in drawing closer to our great God, Who loves us in spite of ourselves. Remember: He lived on the planet for 33+ years, and felt everything we do, the writer of Hebrews tells us. So He knows how we feel. This minister, your brother in Christ, isn't going to sugar-coat anything about the christian life to make it go down any easier. You'll get the whole truth here. Truth: life is hard (yet joyful), and the world will pull hard. We are weak, but we musn't give in and then have to deal with the consequences of whatever it is (been there, done that, no shirt). The writer of Hebrews also wrote that our Lord won't allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. So grin and bear it, and draw close to our God in this Lenten season, and enjoy Him. Be strong and at peace in Him.

Email if you need prayer, the sacrament of confession, or to talk, or if I can help you in any way. Peace of Christ be with you.

Ash Wednesday thoughts: or, Don't be an ash

As a priest, I feel it is my duty to post an Ash Wednesday devotion here, to help us get going on this Lent thing. Why do I say it that way? Because honestly, I seem to always come to Lent with a jumble of emotions and struggle to get myself in a "Lenten" mode. This year is no different. This is my first year to do Lent as a priest, and I'm used to just showing up at church and the priest doing the service, and doing my prayers at home. Not so, this year.

OK, I've got a good way to start. Shirley and my friends, Todd and Becca (guitarist and vocalist for "Stage Dive," the band I played drums with in Houston), were adopted by a cat a few years ago, on Ash Wednesday, so they named him "Ash." Nah, that won't work. OK, maybe I should get a little more personal. St. Francis, whose name I took at my monastic vows (for many reasons), called his body "Brother Ass." There, that's personal -- because that's me. He called himself that because he had a hard time doing what God asked him to do. And so do I, sometimes very much so. Paul wrote that he did the things he didn't want to do, and had a hard time doing the things he should do. We all do. We fool ourselves into thinking that if we are humanly fulfilled -- married to the right person (and when things are going well in our marriage), blessed financially (our bills are paid, even if just barely!), are able to do what we're called to do, and have other stuff in our lives that are enjoyable -- when things are going right, so to speak, that we'll be OK, there won't be any struggles in life.

Sorry (I say this to myself), life doesn't work that way. We will always struggle with -- self. We are selfish. It's never enough. It's our nature to always want more, to not be content with all that God has given us. It's easy to look at other people and envy them, and think, "Man, if I could only make what they make, and have that car and that house......" Well, we get the point. Spock once told Kirk that the wanting is often better than the having. And he was right.

A brother of Francis' found him outside one cold winter's night, building snowmen. And talking to himself -- calling them his wife and children. I'm glad our monastic order is modeled after the ancient Celts -- we can marry. But he couldn't. So he built those snowmen and called them wife and children, and reminded himself that with that privilege (as with anything else God gives us) comes the responsibility of taking care of it.

God has given us what we need, and what He knows we can take care of. He gives us all we need, the Bible teaches us. One night, Francis was found rolling in the snow naked, and once into a thorn bush. Why? To deal with himself, so he could continue to do what God had asked him to do. Thankfully, God doesn't call us to literally roll in snow or thorns. But He calls us to do that in our own way. This Lent, we have the privilege to draw close to Him, and tell Him what's on our mind and heart: that we want more than what we're already blessed with, that we sometimes aren't thankful enough -- and that we don't want to be that way. It's our human nature. To ask Him for help. To have my roll in the snow with God.

So today, whether your church does ashes on the forehead or not (ours does -- come get 'em tonight if you want), today it's OK to be an "ash" -- to be humble before God and enjoy Him.

Now, it's time to go sit behind my drum kit and pull another muscle -- I pulled one at work yesterday moving crates, I pulled one last night behind my kit (when I got quite animated!), and now it's time to go do it again! I have a goal to reach. And, as with all goals, especially spiritual ones, we have to expend a lot of effort. The peace of Christ to you.