The Merry Monk

Here’s an archive of the MonkCasts from June. Click here to subscribe to the MonkCast via iTunes or your favorite RSS reader and join me for more merry monkery.

You can also listen by clicking the links below or using the player over there to the right in the sidebar. If you have an iPhone, download the free ipadio app and listen there.

Remember, if you’d like to join me on a MonkCast, I can record a conference call. Just email me and we can set up a time and I’ll give you the details. It’s really as simple as a phone call.

June MonkCast Archive

06.23.10 – Head ‘Em Up! Move ‘Em Out!
06.15.10 – Life, Whatnot
06.09.10 – Addiction and Contemplation
06.02.10 – The Merry Heretic

During Lent this year, I successfully completed a 40-day liquid fast to raise money for Haiti through Tony Campolo’s EAPE. To be honest, it was one part fundraiser, one part spiritual discipline, and two parts stupid disc jockey publicity stunt.

It was a big success on all counts. Here’s the best part, we raised over $1,000 for an organization that has been serving the poor and oppressed in Haiti for over 30 years through entrepreneurship training, literacy programs and more.

I just received a letter from Tony Campolo thanking us and detailing what’s being done with the money. Here’s a bit of that letter.

Dear Erik,

I can’t thank you enough for the efforts you made and the results that you gained through your fundraising on behalf of our work in Haiti. The good news is that the work there is so efficiently carried out that the gifts of your friends who supported your efforts will do incredible work for Christ and the Kingdom. In reality, your gifts will keep a school of 40 children (the restaveks who are slave children) in class for six months. This is a notable achievement. I thank God for you; I thank God for those who joined your efforts.

Then Tony went on to write about how I’m a great producer and that I’m funny and how I’m so spiritual (and humble). But that’s not the point.

Without you, my Help Haiti Fast would have amounted to a guy in Florida drinking a lot of smoothies. But together, we’ve made a real impact in the lives of 40 children. Here’s to you, and here’s to doing it again some time.

May God bless the Hell out of us all!

Luke 4:29-30 “…and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.”

Did Jesus practice aikido? I submit that he did. In fact, I believe that he was a master aikidoka.

Join me on this MonkCast for a mashup of two ideas I’ve been promising to get to for some time now, 1) aikido as a spiritual discipline, and 2) being a warrior priest.

This will wrap up my noodling on Rule #3 in the rule of life, “Allow Holy Scripture to shape and form Christ in me.” For the rest of my rambling on the subject, listen to me talk about the leap to faith, how to approach the Scriptures, our temptation to abandon hope that we are children of God, and the warrior priest in Scripture.

Next up in the rule of life, integrating contemplative practices and rhythms to slow down my life and ruthlessly eliminate hurry.

Did you know that on cold nights, indigenous Australians would sleep in a hole in the ground all curled up and snugly with a dingo? If it was a bit colder, they’d sleep with two dogs. If it was really cold, it was a three dog night. Incidentally, that’s where the band Three Dog Night got its name. Apparently their music was supposed to conjure the experience of being in a dark hole with wild dogs…not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I digress.

You know, nobody has ever heard of a three theology book night or a three philosophy book night, unless maybe you’re burning the books to stay warm. Now, I like to read theology and philosophy, but when it comes to my religion, I need way more than ideas about God. I need experience. I need to eat and drink and breathe God…to know him in the Biblical sense. I want to be a monk the way Anthony Bourdain is a chef. That’s my kind of spirituality…raw, real and sensual. I want to dive naked into the divine and live to tell about it.

And yet, as Kierkegaard said, “If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe.” However, through belief there is experience.

Here’s an example that’s foundational for what I call spiritual experimentation. I’m not a dualist. I don’t believe that humans are spirits trapped in bodies. I believe that we are spiritual physical beings, a unified whole. We’re essentially living dirt…the nexus of heaven and earth. As a result, when I fast, my “spirit” fasts. By definition, what I do with my body affects my spirit. As a Christian Existentialist, I also believe that the power of my spirit being united with God’s Spirit affects my body. So, during a fast I can have a real, emotional, physical experience with the divine through belief.

Now, of course I could be wrong. From what I’ve read, the digestive system (stomach, intestines, etc.) contains what amounts to a second nervous system that matches the spinal cord and brain in the amount of nerve endings. This second nervous system apparently affects our feelings and sense of well being and is the seat of our emotions. Kind of makes sense when you think about where you feel what you feel. Stress and nervousness are certainly gut feelings, and the feeling of love is experienced in the same place we get heartburn. The kinds of things we feed this system affect our moods and emotions, and the occasional flush or pure diet optimizes the system. That could be the sum total of the experience of fasting, but I choose to believe there’s a spiritual reality involved as well.

The same thing goes for any of the classic spiritual disciplines. Meditation, contemplation, solitude, prayer, silence, service, celebration, etc., all involve the whole person, and through belief can provide an experience of union with God.

But, let’s face it, mention spiritual disciplines and people usually think of monks flogging themselves. That’s why I’m into spiritual experimentation. Experimenting is just more fun than spiritual discipline or spiritual formation. How many people would have experimented with drugs or lesbianism in college if their friends were like, “We hope you will join us for our weekly marijuana discipline group on Saturday and our lesbian formation group on Wednesday.” Experimentation lacks any real commitment. The pressure’s off. You’re not signing up for a way of life, but if you don’t try it, you’ll never know if you like it or not.

My experience with spiritual experimentation, and the experience of those who have experimented with me, has been like making a little tear in the fabric of reality. Once you take a peak through that little hole, you inevitably make the tear a little bigger so you can see more.

Try a week of meditating for 30 minutes every day. Just sit with the awareness that God is all around you and in you. I’ll bet your perception during the other 23.5 hours will start to change appreciably. Then dabble with solitude or silence or my favorite spiritual discipline, celebration. Share your results with me or other experimenters and learn from more experienced dabblers.

Maybe that tear in the fabric of reality will get so big and so much light will come through that you’ll realize you are living and breathing in the very words of God. Maybe you’ll see him speaking to you through crape myrtles and dinner parties. And maybe when life gets cold and dark, the embrace of your heavenly Father will keep you warm through the night. Maybe.

Then again, maybe it’s all nerve endings and an overactive imagination. In that case, you might want to try some dingoes.

I know a couple temples of God, a priest and a priestess, and these two have a big-ass altar (see pic). Recently my wife and I joined them and 60 other people for a divine meal they call Greensboro Grub.

Charlie and Ruth Jones occupy the entire second floor of what used to be the Craven Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina. Once a month they open their home to 40-50 people, set up a 40-foot long table down their 71-foot hallway, and they cook up a feast.

My wife sat next to a Croatian Latin teacher. I sat next to a lady with a very large blue hat. Down the table to the left was a guy from California who used to work for the N.S.A. The head of a local gay and lesbian group was there too, along with people from Charlie and Ruth’s Christian church. I’d never been a part of such a unique gathering of people of different ages, races, and beliefs.

Charlie and Ruth share their space, their food, their considerable talents as cooks, and the Happy Spirit that possesses them. Then, after dinner, everyone gathers in the great room to share their art, music, poetry, acting, words, and a sense that something “other” is taking place.

The Grub is more than a meal or social event. I believe it is the birthing of a new creation within the dying shell of the old. Hunger gives way to fullness. Drab surroundings give way to beauty. Barriers and isolation give way to new friendships. The monotonous drone of daily life gives way to infectious joy.

I drank. I ate. I flirted with my wife. I laughed. I shook with fear as I read The Whiskey Mystic, and felt the energy as my words pulled laughter and gasps from the room. I shared my Wild Turkey with a man who is no stranger to pain…we toasted to life. My wife and I cried as Charlie and Ruth performed Darby.

That night, I saw the words of God. He said, “This is Heaven in Earth. Taste and see that I am good.”

Luke 14:15-16 “…’Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then He said to him, ‘A certain man gave a great supper and invited many…’”

Watching Words posts document my attempt to “hear” God by paying attention to reality. The idea behind this spiritual experiment is that, in the Biblical narrative of creation God said, “Let there be…”, and there it was. So, we’re essentially God’s words walking around in God’s words. All of creation is something he said, and if you want to hear his voice, watch his words.

For more on the concept, see Cymatics and the Voice of God and Parables and the Voice of God.

I’m getting back to noodling on the rule of life. Rule #3 is “Allow Holy Scripture to shape and form Christ in me.”

I’ve spent some time talking about the leap to faith, how to approach the Scriptures and what they say about our temptation to abandon hope that we are children of God.

On today’s MonkCast I introduce the idea of the warrior priest. Where do we see the concept of the warrior priest in Scripture and what does it mean to become one? Start clicking and find out.

I’ve successfully reached the end of my 40 day liquid fast to raise money for relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti through EAPE. Founded by Tony Campolo, EAPE has been serving the poor and oppressed in Haiti for over 30 years through entrepreneurship training, literacy programs and more.

Click here to get the latest from Tony on the unique work EAPE is doing in Haiti.

There’s still time to help push the total over $1000. If you haven’t already pledged, let me know you intend to in the comments to this post.

If you have pledged, you owe Tony the full amount! Donate directly to EAPE here and tell them The Merry Monk sent you.

Haiti, may God bless the Hell out of you!

I am approaching the end of my 40 day liquid fast to raise money for relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti through EAPE. Founded by Tony Campolo, EAPE has been serving the poor and oppressed in Haiti for over 30 years through entrepreneurship training, literacy programs and more.

This is day 36 and time is running for you to make a donation. Help push the total over $1000. We only need two more people to donate $1 per day of fasting! Make your pledge in the comments to this post and then donate directly to EAPE here and tell them The Merry Monk sent you.

Help me promote the last week of the fast by donating your Facebook status to the cause. (It’s Twitter ready too.) Just cut and past the copy below.

” The Merry Monk is on a 40 day liquid fast for Haiti. Pledge $1/day of fasting to EAPE! http://themerrymonk.com/?p=873 “

Haiti, may God bless the Hell out of you!

The song I was writing is left undone. I don’t know why I spend my time
writing songs I can’t believe, with words that tear and strain to rhyme.

And so you see I have come to doubt all that I once held as true.
I stand alone without beliefs. The only truth I know is you.

And as I watch the drops of rain weave their weary paths and die,
I know that I am like the rain. There but for the grace of you go I.

- Paul Simon

I’m writing to you from the low desert of Lent. I am Israel. I am Moses. I am Jesus. I am the people of God who have always gone through the water and into the wilderness.

We wander and we are tempted. Sometimes we wander for 40 days. Sometimes we wander for 40 years. This is our way.

We walk with the whispered words of Satan in our ears, “If you are the son of God…prove it.”

When Jesus was tempted to prove it, he refused. He didn’t have to prove anything. He knew who he was. I’m not that fortunate.

I have come to doubt.

I haven’t been sleeping well. It was 1 AM. I was in a hot bath trying to relax when I was overcome with a wave of darkness. I thought, What if all this stuff about a loving God is bullshit? How do I know he’s not pissed at me? (He wouldn’t have to look hard to find an excuse to send me to Hell.) How do I know he’s not an elaborate figment of our collective imagination? It stirs a bizarre mix of dark emotions to doubt in the existence of God and be scared of his punishment at the same time. I was literally naked, exposed…and afraid.

So I did what any potentially insane believer in a cosmic imaginary friend would do under these circumstances, I asked God if he’s really there.

No answer.

Then I thought about what believing in the unconditional love of a sovereign God has done to my life. It has given me peace and hope in the face of my many flaws and mistakes that tempt me to despair. My belief has kept me faithful to my wife for over 15 years, giving our love room to deepen, grow and give me great pleasure. It has given me a job with a sense of meaning and purpose. My faith is the center of rich and long-lasting friendships. It has helped me to deal with addictions that have threatened my physical and mental health. I have even reached out to those who hate me and I’ve given time and money to alleviate the suffering of others…all in the name of God.

Granted, being a Christian has exposed me to (and identified me with) the whack-jobs in my faith family, but so what? There are atheist whack-jobs too. They’re in whatever group you identify with, and if you can’t find one in your group…you’re him brother. Anyway, other than that, and the strained relationships with loved ones who have a visceral disdain for Christians, it’s been a good deal.

So, given all the above, if God’s not really there, I have a pretty cool imaginary friend. No harm, no foul. I die and pass into nothingness having lived a life full of good things that I’ve enjoyed to the full. However, if he is there, my faith gets me that same great life and eternity to boot.

Laying there in that tub of water in the desert of doubt, I thought, Either way, I win. I can’t prove that I’m a son of God, so screw it. I’ll just believe. This reminded me of something I grew up hearing my dad say, “Son, assume the quality and it’s yours.” He usually told me this to encourage me to get good grades or quit smoking, but it applies to faith too.

So I prayed this prayer… “Father, if you’re not an elaborate figment of our collective imagination, please grant that I may delight in your will and walk in your ways.

But, if you’re not really there, or you’re a God who doesn’t really care, may my religion be of such a quality that my enjoyment of this life is maximized thereby.”

Don’t get me wrong, I know life throws you curve balls. I’ve swung at a few. There may come a time when, like Job, my life falls apart. Will I still trust him if he slays me? I’m banking on the fact that my faith will give me hope and meaning then too. You know, trust in the dark what I’ve learned in the light? We’ll see.

I’m fully aware that people throughout the centuries have suffered and died for this faith that gives me such peace and joy. I know that even today there are people being killed for their belief in Jesus. I’ll do what I can to support those brothers and sisters and hope that if I’m ever asked to put my ass on the line for my faith, I’ll be up to it. How could I fail to defend a faith that has given me so much? I bet I could find a way.

But in the mean time, I’m just going to enjoy being who I have chosen to be.

I am Israel. I am Moses. I am Jesus. I am the people of God who have always gone through the water and into the wilderness.

John 6:66-68 “Many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

This is day 29 of my 40 day Help Haiti Fast to raise money for relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti through EAPE. Founded by Tony Campolo, EAPE has been serving the poor and oppressed in Haiti for over 30 years through entrepreneurship training, literacy programs and more. You can be sure EAPE will be in Haiti long after the world’s focus moves on.

Help me promote the last two weeks of the fast by donating your Facebook status to the cause. (It’s Twitter ready too.) Just cut and past the copy below.

” The Merry Monk is on a 40 day liquid fast for Haiti. Pledge $1/day of fasting to EAPE! http://themerrymonk.com/?p=782 “

Here’s the skinny on the fast:

- I pledge to consume only liquids (water, whey protein, fruit & vegetable juice) for 40 days
- You pledge an amount of money per day I can make it ($1 / day yields $40). At the end of the fast, donate directly to EAPE.org with a note that The Merry Monk sent you.
- Consider joining me in the fast and solicit sponsors of your own
- 100% of the money goes to EAPE

Let me know how much you’re in for in the comments of this post, then use the “Share” options below to spread the word about The Help Haiti Fast.

Also, here’s the latest on the movement to call world leaders to cancel Haiti’s $1 billion debt in order to give the country a real chance to recover.

Haiti, may God bless the Hell out of you.