Gary Mintchell

Author Archive

Unhurried

March 24, 2021

Jim was my boss for perhaps almost two years. He was the engineer’s engineer. Pleasant, but dull; methodical; never rushed, but accomplished more than any two people I’ve known; could think more about work that other people should be doing than anyone I’ve met.

Made me think about this thought from Dallas Willard, who once said one of the defining characteristics of Jesus’ life was that he was unhurried.

Similarly, John Wesley said, “Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry; because I never undertake any more work than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirit.”

I have tried to inculcate that lack of hurry into my life. When much younger even as a child, I rushed through everything. Things would not get done to completion. Accidents would happen. I’d wind up spending more time because I’d skipped a crucial step and had to go back.

These days, it’s more like “don’t rush me, I’ll get to it when I get to it, but I will have thought it through before I start and (often) do it correctly.”

You can’t rush wisdom. You have to live through experiences and then learn to slow down in order to accomplish more.

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Apostle Paul’s Shema

March 23, 2021

One God, the Father, from whom all things, and we [belong/live toward] him.
And one Lord, Jesus Messiah, through whom all things, and we [live/have been saved] through him.
1 Corinthians 8:6 translated by NT Wright

Jews pray every morning and and the Shema—a reminder of the basics of faith. Part of it is famous to Christians (quoted by Jesus as the greatest commandment), Hear O Israel, the Lord is one, you shall love the Lord Your God with all your hearts and all your soul and all your strength.

Jesus added a second when asked for the greatest commandment also quoting Torah, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The famous first century rabbi Hillel, whom Jesus often quotes, says that this summarizes the Torah, all the rest is commentary.

New Testament scholar NT Wright in his huge study of Paul—Paul and the Faithfulness of God—sees the thought quoted above as Paul’s Shema for Christians. Perhaps Paul would also cite Hillel as all the rest is just commentary. Note: the verbs do not appear in the Greek text. Wright suggests the two from the context.

My heart is saddened whenever I see Christians search through the writings and twist interpretations and pull things out of context and build cases against other Christians—or even against all people.

I all could be so simple. Hard to do. But simple. At the end of his physical life on earth, Jesus summarized the two commandments and left us one major one—Love one another as I have loved you.

We belong to God, living through Jesus, loving one another. What gives us the power to begin to qualify who is included in one another?

Here’s a discipline that is hard to bring into our life—when we go out today and see a human person who is made in the image of God (that is, everyone), treat them with respect. When we start to repost someone’s cute, but cutting, “picture” on Facebook, think, are we reflecting this command of loving one another. When we talk to someone about someone else, are we talking in love or (pick one: hate, anger, envy, lust…)?

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What Christians Believe

March 22, 2021

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Nicene Creed from 381AD

If you read me consecutively, you know I’ve been going through a study of the Church Fathers. You might ask, how did they come to be known as the Church Fathers? Good question. The one defining thread is that they defended the Nicene Creed against all the battling ideas circulating at the time.

And most of the controversies revolved around understanding just who this Jesus guy was.

The first Nicene Creed of 325 amended a little by a meeting in Constantinople in 381 was developed for two reasons. First, the Emperor, converted by his mother to Christianity, proclaimed the religion an official religion of the Empire. So, people needed to know what that religion was. Secondly, there was a philosophical movement afoot to convince people that Jesus was never a real human. The church needed a statement that affirmed both the divinity and humanity of Jesus.

Christians have always been an argumentative lot. Already by 55, the Apostle Paul was combatting “heretical” ideas. And the Creed of 381 didn’t resolve things.

We must have a thousand Christian denominations today. A couple of dozen (at least) traditions. Social issues that give us something to argue about. Sometimes minute theological issues to give us something to argue about.

However, all believe that Creed (except for a very few outliers).

What if we decided to follow a discipline of going back to the basics. Finding that we agree. Maybe some of us like the “rock concert followed by TED Talk” style of worship. Maybe some of us like the mystery and majesty of a formal liturgy. I know of some (many?) who like a little of both–charismatic Catholics do exist. Maybe some are comfortable within certain traditions. Those should not have divided us to the point of war.

A great spiritual discipline is to return to the roots periodically and ground ourselves in order to make our priorities right.

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I Choose Where My Thoughts Dwell

March 19, 2021

Many people are reflecting upon a year ago. Of course, I am one.

A year ago, we signed the papers and I transferred a bunch of money and we became property owners in a different state. While in Illinois signing papers, my hair stylist called from Ohio. The governor was shutting down businesses like hers and she had a spot open. My usual appointment was three days after the shutdown. I told her I was a six-hour drive away and couldn’t make it. I didn’t get a hair cut for fourteen more weeks. Even a former hippie needed a trim by that time.

We had two major changes–facing life in the pandemic and adjusting to the new reality of living in a community where we knew no one with only a superficial knowledge of the area.

I made it a priority to establish a daily discipline much like I had the past 20 years. Just a few adjustments. No gym. No Yoga classes. No soccer. The only thing that slipped for a while was strength training. Eventually I took care of that and the body is getting back into shape.

Had we not moved, two things are likely. We would have caught the virus (I estimate that 90% of the people we knew from where we’re from have had Covid), and we would not have seen our family.

When other thoughts pop into my head–nostalgia, missing something, adjusting to new surroundings, what if this or that–I choose to focus on what matters. I choose not to dwell on any “what might have been” random thoughts.

This advice from the Apostle Paul to the gathering called Philippians applies, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

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Breathe

March 18, 2021

We forget that we breathe. It just happens. Well, it happens or we die.

I hear or read the word, and I immediately become conscious of my breath. Then I regulate it. Slow down. Become aware of how my chest expands and diaphragm drops as the lungs fill with air. And then the contraction as I exhale.

Ever notice how people talk differently? Some talk with breath support–you’re taught that at speaking school. Some have a lazy diaphragm and lower abdominal muscles and speak in a lazier way lacking some enunciation. It’s breath.

Warriors must learn to regulate breath. As should all of us in stressful situations or when working.

We pay attention to breath while meditating. Slowing down. Filling our lungs.

Some people who study such things report that humans typically only fill their lungs to about 20% capacity. Stop, become aware, fill your lungs completely followed by a slow exhale (all through the nose) several times a day. Take short breaks from the computer or the book you’re reading. Breathe.

In Yoga, we learn pranayama–breathing exercises. I never told my class, “Now, we’ll do pranayama.” Instead, I would begin a class sitting (usually, but sometimes standing or reclining) and lead through some different breath work to get us warm and in the mood to begin exercise.

Breathing is so essential, yet so unconscious that James Nestor researched globally and wrote a book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. I have not read the book, but I heard him interviewed on a podcast. So, this book is on my list.

Pause. Breathe with awareness. Set a timer on your calendar to pause during the day. Breathe. As I breathe with intention, I turn my awareness to God. It’s like a “God break” during the day.

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Solving The Puzzle

March 17, 2021

My day has had a bit of a delayed start. I left the house about 6:45 this morning to go obtain my second Covid vaccination. There was perhaps a slight amount of fear and trepidation. I’ve heard a variety of stories ranging from no reaction to being very tired and achy. Sitting in the observation room (unlike YoYo Ma, I didn’t bring my cello (well, guitar) to the room to entertain during the wait), I did begin to feel a little soreness in the area of the shot. But that feeling left. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.

I like historical fiction, but I don’t read much of it. Steven Pressfield wrote a popular work of nonfiction, The War of Art: Break Through The Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, cited by many creatives I follow. I recommend it. Mostly, he writes historical fiction. I decided to buy his latest book, A Man at Arms. I could not put it down. Totally destroyed yesterday’s productivity. The setting is the eastern Mediterranean in 55 AD. A “Man at Arms”, a warrior and mercenary, accepts a job from the Jerusalem-based Roman Authority to track down and capture a man and girl child who have a letter from the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Corinth. Early on, he attracts to him a male youth who follows him. The story is gripping. You can’t guess the end until the next-to-last page.

Note: it is a warrior story, so there are pretty graphic battle scenes as well as scenes of Roman brutality. Pressfield gives you a look at the cultural backdrop of Roman occupation that is only alluded to in the Bible. I think it’s great. It may be one of those few books I’ll read again.

I have been studying again Pope Benedict XVI’s series of talks on the Church Fathers. That volume nestles alongside two books on the Desert Fathers on my shelf.

The Church Fathers portray the struggles of the church from the late 200s to the early 400s (so, mostly the 4th Century) to define itself–both around the many theories attempting to understand who and what Jesus was and around the problems of dealing with politics once the church gained official status from around 325. We continue to struggle to understand Jesus. Many of us say we follow him as disciples, but much about him is difficult to completely understand. And many of us struggle with politics. Some readers of this blog are struggling to survive from politics and some are trying to win at politics and get the government to force “Christian values” upon the population. It was complex 1,700 years ago–and it remains complex today.

But the Desert Fathers are my favorite. They worked at the intersection of the interior human and the Spirit of God. What did it mean to pray without ceasing? How can we identify and overcome the myriad of emotional and psychological forces within us in order to truly live with God? If fact, just how do we live with God? What practices make sense? How do we teach? There’s not a lot of theory with them. It’s how to order one’s life congruent with God. These (mostly) guys were strange. They are my heroes.

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When You Work, Work

March 16, 2021

I recently read that phrase in a book meant to help us along the way. What a wonderful concept that we so often miss.

When we work, work.

When we study, study.

When we pray, pray.

When Luke Skywalker said he’d try to do something, Yoda replied, “Do or do not; there is no try.”

How often I go to my desk to study something or write something and I “wake up” to discover my mind is far afield!

How often do we go to work and spend our time talking with (or complaining about) people? If we settled upon a task and actually did it, how successful could we be?

How often do we sit in meditation or prayer and after a period of time awaken to discover we’ve been thinking about dinner?

We are not going to be perfect at this. But we could try a bit of magic called focus. Paying attention to what we are about. What a revolutionary idea.

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The Wind Blows Where It Wishes

March 15, 2021

We read in the gospel of John, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

We moved from Ohio to northern Illinois last year. The terrain is similar–mostly flat. But Indiana seemed to suck much of the energy from the winds and storms before they reached Ohio. Up here, there is nothing until the Rocky Mountains that interferes. Yesterday and today we have winds of about 20 mph (32 kmph) with gusts up to 40 mph (64 kph).

The other day the winds were almost this strong, and it was my day to run sprints. For about a mile, I ran short sprints all out followed by a recovery walk for a bit. Running into the wind was difficult. Today, I’m looking out the window of my study and wondering if I should venture out before the snow comes in a few hours. I am unfortunately too heavy to be blown away (I’m working on that), but it’ll be a struggle.

In New Testament Greek, the same word is used for wind and spirit. You look at context for which meaning to pull out. Of course, the writers sometimes work a pun on the two meanings of the word. Thus Jesus, the master craftsman with words, ties together two thoughts–one that people obviously experience and one they may not be entirely sure about.

The spirit is like the wind in many ways.

Sometimes a gentle breeze the soothes the skin and soul.

Sometimes a force that propels you forward.

Sometimes, like in my running against the wind (sorry Bob Seger), it makes us stronger.

Sometimes it is a force that gets our attention causing awe or fear.

Mostly, like the wind, the spirit although not directly visible is real.

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Ancient Promotion of Women

March 12, 2021

I guess I have sinned in the eyes of the Southern Baptist Convention. I have learned from a woman. I don’t mean my primary school teachers–I guess that’s OK. But as an adult. I have learned from Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Therese of Lisieux, Beth Moore, and many others. Oops, I guess that some (men) within the SBC took offense that Moore had men in her audience (as I have been told). I see she has taken a public stance about the leaders of her denomination.

I never forsake an opportunity to learn something, no matter who is teaching or leading. I don’t like to tell people what to do, but I think I’d make this a command–learn from whomever.

It wasn’t this news that brought this to mind as much as it was reading Pope Benedict XVI’s description of Saint Jerome. “Moreover, an aspect rather disregarded in ancient times but held vital by our author [Jerome] is the promotion of the woman, to whom he recognizes the right to a complete formation: human, scholastic, religious, professional.”

Something else Jerome wrote that I think is appropriate at all times (but seems brought out by much news of (male) religious leaders over the past few years, “May your actions never be unworthy of your words, may it not happen that, when you preach in church, someone might say to himself: ‘Why does he therefore not act like this?’ How can a teacher, on a full stomach, discuss fasting; even a thief can blame avarice; but in the priest of Christ the mind and words must harmonize.”

1,600 years later, we’d extrapolate that “priest” part to include everyone who proclaims Christ. If only they (we) would all let our actions and words align.

This blog has surpassed 2,400 posts this week. That’s a lot of discipline. That’s a lot of opportunity for those few who know me to say–he isn’t really like that. But I hope not.

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Taming Our Excesses

March 11, 2021

Pope Benedict XVI gave a series of insightful weekly teachings on the Church Fathers. This was a particularly interesting introduction to one of them.

Today we turn our attention to Saint Jerome, a Church Father who centered his life on the Bible: he translated it into Latin, commented on it in his works, and, above all, strove to live it in practice throughout his long earthly life, despite the well-known difficult, hot-tempered character with which nature had endowed him.
Pope Benedict XVI, Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine

What better brief description of the works of spiritual disciplines can you find?

How often do we later regret some excess of out character–anger, depression (not clinical), cynicism, fear, hate–that expressed itself in hurtful ways?

Not only studying the Bible, but also striving to put it into daily, yes, even hourly, practice in our lives can tame that wild beast and at least make us easier to get along with. And maybe people would actually like us and like for us to be around!

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