My Blog

Tag: spirituality

  • What Does My Pledge Mean?

     

    For the past eight weeks, we have been engaged in a campaign to teach about stewardship. A key element in that campaign has been an appeal for members of the Cathedral community to make a pledge of financial support for 2017. Why?

    First of all, a pledge of faithful stewardship of our money is a practice we recommend as one of the spiritual disciplines of our lives. According to the biblical story, human beings are created in the image of God and called by God to be stewards, managers of everything God gives us to sustain and enrich life on planet Earth. Along with that vocation, God has given human beings gifts and abilities that no other creature posses. A pledge of financial support is a tangible profession of our belief that our Creator has called and equipped us to be stewards of God’s bounty. Outward, tangible signs of our beliefs are woven into the fabric of the community of faith: Holy Baptism, Holy Eucharist, works of mercy, standing or kneeling for prayer, going to church, and reading the Bible are some of the other outward and tangible signs of our spiritual life.

    In addition, our pledge is more about the giver’s need to give than about the Church’s need to receive. Certainly, as we grow in generosity toward God, the work of the Church benefits as a result of our giving. There are many worthy non-profit organizations. Christians are encouraged to get involved in those organizations and to support them financially. But the Church is not just another non-profit; the Church is of God and is God’s primary instrument for carrying out God’s work in the world. So, we give to God through God’s Church and we make that gift the first priority in all our charitable giving.

    Also, our pledge is a reminder that everything we have, whether saved, spent, or given away is a sacred trust from God. When we make contributions to fulfill our pledge, we are mindful that we are stewards over what remains. It causes us to be more intentional about how we use our resources and helps us have a healthy relationship with our possessions so that we don’t rely on them more than we rely on God.

    And, our Cathedral community, like the entire Church, is a covenant community. The God we worship has welcomed us into a covenant and calls us to live in covenant with one another. So, when I make any kind of pledge, promise, vow, in the context of my faith community, it is a tangible expression of my desire to participate in and be accountable to my sisters and brothers in Christ. All people are welcome to be consumers of the ministries of the Church. But the ministries of the Church are carried out by those who consider themselves members. The members are the delivery system. Our Vestry, Staff, and Finance Committee develop a mission plan each year. Our pledges give them a reliable estimate of the amount of funding available to carry out that plan. Therefore we have to be committed to one another in Christ’s mission. A pledge of financial support is one of the ways we are expected to demonstrate that commitment. Our pledge says to God and to God's covenant people, “You can count on me!”

    Some have expressed concern that there are those who are waiting until the new Dean arrives before making a pledge. In truth, very few people are doing that. Most of our members at Saint John's Cathedral understand that faithful stewardship is about giving to God for the mission of God's Church, not giving to the Dean. And they understand that a pledge is not a bargaining tool for getting their way or a means of expressing satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In fact, if our people respond as generously as I believe they will, those who are discerning a call to be the new Dean will be impressed by this sign of spiritual vitality and maturity.

    If you have made your pledge of faithful stewardship, thank you! I hope this reflection strengthens your resolve. If you have not made a pledge, please do so very soon and join us in growing in generosity in the coming year. If you have never made a pledge, please give it prayerful consideration. You may find, as so many of us have found, that the discipline can have a transforming effect in your spiritual journey.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    Saint John's Cathedral
    Denver, Colorado

     

     

  • A Whole New Mind

    I just returned from St. John’s Hospital where Fr. Frank Johnson, Jan Henderson, and I represented St. John’s Church at a ceremony in which the hospital board recognized the church for founding the hospital in Jackson Hole 100 years ago. It is inspiring to see the first rate medical center that has emerged from that log hospital. It made me think about what lies ahead in the future, for this hospital and for all of us. Whole New Mind Cover

    On the way out of the hospital, Jan Henderson reminded me of former White House speechwriter and author Daniel H. Pink. Ten years ago, he published a thoughtful and informed commentary on how right brain thinking is superseding left brain thinking as we make the transition from the Information Age and enter the Conceptual Age. The book is called A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, and even though a decade has passed since its publication, I believe it provides an important perspective for us as we look to tomorrow.

    In this new age, high tech is no longer enough. Well-developed high-tech capabilities will have to be supplemented by high-concept and high-touch abilities. Pink contends that in much of the Western World, the demand for left brain directed emphasis is diminished due to three causes: Abundance, Asia, and Automation.

    Abundance - Our left brains have given us an abundance of things and that has lessened their significance. So, we look for those things that stand out. What makes things stand out is often a function of their design, a right brain directed activity. We want not only utility but significance in our stuff. We have a desire for beauty and transcendence.

    Asia – People in other parts of the world are capable of performing left brain directed work at a fraction of the cost. That usually elevates their quality of life but reduces the demand for similar positions here. Pink suggests that we think of the increase in outsourcing of jobs to other countries as an opportunity to develop a new set of aptitudes, using right brain directed abilities “such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component."

    Automation – Many heavily left brain directed professions and pursuits can now be done by machines. However, machines have not yet been able to accomplish what our right brains do. So, software can now write software that was formerly written by human programmers, leaving them free to devote more attention to creativity, tacit knowledge, and the big picture. 

    Much of medical diagnosis can be guided by computers that process the binary logic of decision trees used by physicians, moving this profession more toward empathy, narrative medicine, and holistic care. 

    In the Conceptual Age, we will need to complement our left brain reasoning by mastering six essential right brain aptitudes. “Together these six high-concept, high-touch senses can help develop the whole new mind this new era demands.”

    1. Not just function but also DESIGN.
    2. Not just argument but also STORY.
    3. Not just focus but also SYMPHONY.
    4. Not just logic but also EMPATHY.
    5. Not just seriousness but also PLAY.
    6. Not just accumulation but also MEANING.

    Of special interest to many of us is the author’s treatment of meaning. He stresses the importance of taking spirituality seriously. "At the very least," he writes, "we ought to take spirituality seriously because of its demonstrated ability to improve our lives – something that might be even more valuable when so many of us have satisfied (and over satisfied) our material needs." 

    A Whole New Mind offers a positive look at a future that has already dawned and leads us to a new way of thinking about what we'll need in order to thrive in it. There are significant implications for those in positions of religious leadership as we consider how to chart a course for the future and reinvent the way we go about being the Church.

    I invite you to think and pray about this during our time of transition as you envision entering a new era of mission with your next Rector. Get involved, build relationships, share your spirit, and receive what others have to offer.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Blue Small