The Sacred Meal

I recently finished the book, "The Sacred Meal", as a part of the book sneeze blogger program. I chose this book because the practice of Communion is one that I take very seriously and am always up for a fresh perspective. For all of my life I have been a part of a denomination that doesn't know exactly what to do with Communion. Each church basically chooses how frequently and in what manner they engage this ancient practice of the church. I really did not have a problem with this until I began to take my faith more seriously and even entering into vocational ministry. Through education and personal experience I began to have a greater appreciation for the deep meaning that Communion provides on our faith journey. So from that perspective I was eager to read what the author had to say on the matter.

I found "The Sacred Meal" to be an easy read that is truly geared for the everyday Christian. The author speaks from an Episcopal background and has served the Eucharist in her church for many years. I found myself underlining many sentences for further reflection as the author reaffirmed what the practice of Communion celebrates and how it affects our communal life together. I was personally affected by the perspectives of the practice that the author described as waiting, receiving and afterward. I won't spoil what the author writes, but I will say that the idea of waiting was a fresh perspective for me. I am used to taking the bread instead of receiving the bread. Unfortunately this is mainly due to issues of convenience or making the practice as less Catholic as it can be. I believe there is something that we can learn from waiting to receive.

Lastly, I appreciated how the author connected the Eucharist to our mission in the world. Too often we have tried to separate our worship from our mission which has led to many Christians living a sort of bi-polar kind of life. But in seeing how the aspects of our worship inform our mission, we can begin to see how we live a fully abundant life. May we fully be able to live this out in every area of our life and begin to see the kingdom of God here on this earth in new ways and in new places.

God's sense of humor

I don't know about you, but I am not a big fan of the phrase "God's sense of humor." It is usually used by Christians who find themselves doing something that they never set out to do. For example, don't ever say that you will not go to Africa, because God in his sense of humor will send you there. Or never say that you hate working with kids because God in his sense of humor will have you volunteering at the first opportunity. Or this one if for my wife, never say that you will not marry a pastor because God in his sense of humor will have you fall in love with one. There are many more examples that I could use, but I'll spare you.

Here is my beef. I do not think God is just waiting for us to make such statements so we can be proven wrong. I think what happens is usually this. We make such statements because deep down we have a life affirming connection to those situations, but are afraid to admit it. And what happens is that as we are being discipled and molded by God, those life affirming connections begin to become more apparent to us. Here is another example. I never in a million years would have imagined becoming a youth pastor. I am an introvert who is largely impatient when it comes to childish behavior from people that know better. But yet five years ago I found myself interviewing for a youth pastor position. Now little did I know that decision would lead to a situation that would profoundly shape my life and view of ministry due to the connections that I would make with colleagues. But because I was moved outside of my comfort zone, I learned more about myself and my calling that I ever would have if that step had not been taken.

Is that God's sense of humor, or is it just irony?

A Day to Remember

As someone who was born after desegregation, I do not have a personal frame of reference in which to appreciate who Martin Luther King, Jr was and what he helped to accomplish. But I have grown up in the south and experienced racism first hand in the words and actions of people I have come across. My mom tells me a story of a question I asked shortly after we moved to Tennessee when I was in the second grade. Evidently I came home one day and asked my parents 'why are we supposed to hate black people?' From that point on I know that I dealt with the issue on a frequent basis. My prayer is that we will continue to strive towards the dream that Dr. King had and I will try my best to instill that in my daughter as she grows up in this incredibly diverse world we live.

Who are We?

I, like many other UT Vol Football fans, have been on a roller coaster the past year and a half. It started when it became evident that our beloved coach, Phil Fulmer, was losing his touch in putting together a competitive team in the SEC. What ensued was an ugly firing of a great human being who didn't deserve the way in which he was let go. Out of that situation came the hiring of an unknown to our part of the country, Lane Kiffin. Kiffin brought energy and a great track record as a recruiter and up and coming name in the coaching ranks, not to mention his famous father as our D coordinator. He brought a swagger that we hadn't seen ever at UT in the football program and for the most part we liked it. Our team came close to beating both Alabama and Florida and showed improvement over the course of the season, bowl game excluded. Things seemed to be looking up for the Vols. But Pete Carrol decided to jump ship to the NFL and the carousel began. I remember thinking, 'man, if this happened a few years from now I bet Kiffin would go there.' Little did we know that he'd go now.

Now I don't want to dead horse that is Kiffin in these parts, but I do want to say that he left at the worst possible time for our program. It would be near impossible for us to poach a head coach from another program because of the timing. Who would want to be branded as that kind of guy? But for four days we all held our collective breath as candidate after candidate turned down the opportunity to be head coach at UT.

As you can imagine, talk radio was a buzz at the news of each candidate turning down the job and who we may or may now have been going after. But I was amused at the number of people who called in and exclaimed, "We are the University of Tennessee, coaches should be salivating at coming here." I am a huge UT fan, but even I had to laugh at that one. I will be blindly loyal to UT football until I breathe no more, but my glasses aren't orange colored enough to not be a realist. Yes we have a good program and a lot to offer, but we have our fair share of warts and a few open sores that were caused by the timing of the whole situation. It has been 12 years since we won the National Championship, which is two-thirds of the lifespan of the kids we are recruiting. So let's be realistic about our situation.

So I hope that we will continue to be the great program that we have been throughout our history. Maybe we won't have the arrogance of the USC's, Alabama's, Florida's, etc and that is fine with me. I am not willing to sell my soul for a quick score but instead want to see our program restored to what it once was. So coach Dooley, you have your work cut out for you. I know nothing about you, but am cautiously optimistic about that job you can. That has no reflection on you, it's a result of the actions of your predecessor. Just please don't write checks with your mouth that you can't cash just yet. I hate being accountable for the stupid things that coaches say. So start playing Rocky Top in your office, because you are going to hear it a bunch and Go Big Orange.

Welcome readers!

Hello readers both from my old blog and those who may have stumbled on this new blog. Whatever the case may be, know that you are welcome in jroddy's world. I will do my best to offer stories, as they happen, and opinions, as they come to me, to you. My hope is that keeping up with this blog will give me something to look forward to doing each week. So check back frequently and be entertained or educated by all that is going on in jroddy's world.

The Justice Project

I recently finished "The Justice Project" and would have to say that I found it a very easy but challenging read. I appreciate the wide range of authors of each essay and how they each brought a perspective that is radically different from mine in middle class suburbia. I appreciate that each author is living out justice in their particular situation. It lends some credibility to their situation that wouldn't be there if a single author tried to write on the broad scope of justice in the world.

I was challenged mostly by the wide range of injustice that is happening all around me. Reading these essays has caused me to begin to rethink the way that I live and what more I can do to not perpetuate the injustice that I unconsciously promote through my actions based on what and where I buy goods and who I may or may not vote for among other things.

I would hope that the message of the Justice Project would be heard by fellow Christians who are trying to figure out what the kingdom of God is all about. May be begin to 'do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.'