Ryan Weaver

storyteller//gospelplanter

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.: cul-de-sacs…

May 4, 2015 by Ryan Weaver Leave a Comment

Someone recently asked me how I deal with writer’s block.

I have written only one book… but I write constantly. And beyond the structuring of words into semi-intelligible sentences and paragraphs… I work on many creative projects which require a level of undistracted and undivided focus. Distractions can divide the mind. Distractions move artists away from creative centering and dedicated focus.

Focus is vital for any creative endeavor.

When it comes to describing the distractions which war at the mind, I prefer to describe “writer’s block” in terms of a word picture with a WAY OUT. For me, “writer’s block” is a senseless and hopeless description of distractedness which leads to wordlessness. I don’t have a rubric for understanding a “block”. And, more importantly, I don’t naturally see the way through or a way around a “block”. 

What type of block is clogging my creative flow? How tall is the block? And how long? And how wide? And how deep is the block entrenched? I have no idea. I have no way of beginning to gain an understanding of the block. And now that I’m thinking about the block, and my assessment of the block, I have lost my creative focus altogether. 

The ambiguous image of “the block” has brought its own distraction.

I should state this very clearly… Distractions are not blocks.

  Distractions have meaning. Distractions are not shapeless and beyond description. The ambiguous “block” to creativity is not a terrible and frightening enemy to be feared. Distractions have a name. Distractions are typically very good… and sometimes very human. It has often been said that the enemy of great is the good, the normal, the everyday, the mundane, the necessary, the ordinary. And there is much truth in this.

When it comes to distractedness in creativity, I prefer the image of a “cul-de-sac“. In the suburban landscape, cul-de-sacs are designed to give a friendly face to finality. There is one way into the cul-de-sac… and only one way out. The cul-de-sac is a charming touch to terminality. The cul-de-sac is a kindly reminder that my adventuring has ceased to advance. Regardless to its friendliness, kindliness, and charm… a cul-de-sac is a dead end.

Cul-de-sacs are designed to put an end to adventurous wandering and creative flow. 

My family lived in a home placed on a suburban cul-de-sac a few years ago. The number of cars which wandered into our cul-de-sac by accident was rather surprising. And the number of these wanderers who used the cul-de-sac to the fullest of its design potential was impressive, now that I think about it. I never saw a car pull to the middle of the cul-de-sac and then reverse back from whence it came. The wanderers circled. Often, they joyfully circled once… thankful to be propelled back onto the way toward their destination. Occasionally, the wanderers circled twice… but I do not ever recall seeing a wandering driver confused and circling endlessly. I never had to walk into the cul-de-sac to remind the wanderers the way out of our little cul-de-sac.

A distraction can be anything that leads my mind into a mental (and spiritual) cul-de-sac. And a distraction isn’t bad… but it is much less helpful than creative focus which leads me closer to my destination. A cul-de-sac is a reminder that I’ve reached an end, and it’s about time I move forward by another way.

A creative cul-de-sac has purpose… and a WAY OUT.

When writing, I am ruthless about placing myself in a position of greatest focus. This is a vital component of completing a creative endeavor. If I want the words to flow… I need rhythm and cadence of undistractedness… I need the space to wander… and I need to see cul-de-sacs as the charming dead ends that they truly are.

However, it must be said, I am my own greatest source of distraction (but that’s surely another subject… for another time).

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Filed Under: #thisGuynamedJesus, Gospelplanting, Narrative Discipleship, Storytelling, Writing Tagged With: #thisGuynamedJesus, Gospelplanting, Narrative Discipleship, Storytelling, writing

.: holy kisses…

May 4, 2015 by Ryan Weaver Leave a Comment

On several occasions in my adolescence, I can remember my youth pastor, Tommy, threatening that he would “greet me with a holy kiss” if I didn’t stop interrupting him. Somehow this didn’t seem as brotherly and loving as what Paul intended in his letters to the Thessalonians, the Romans, and the Corinthians.
  For the second time in our Acts sermon series at Remedy Church, I declined to engage the sacred greeting of the “holy kiss” in my teaching. This first instance occurred in our narrative arc through Thessalonica. The second instance of holy kissing occurred today as we were wrapping up Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. And, with a bit of foreshadowing in mind, it will happen again at the end of 2nd Corinthians as well. There really isn’t a viable reason why I have avoided breaking down the language behind this greeting when it has come up in context within our teaching. So, for the sake of common edification, here’s a quick breakdown…

The Greek phrase employed by Paul is philemati hagio which is literally translated “kiss of holiness” or “holy kiss“. It’s very straight forward. There isn’t much scholarly debate about whether Paul meant something else altogether, or whether these instructions were inserted into the text (repeatedly and sporadically) by a lonely monk in the Middle Ages.

Additionally, Peter closes his first letter with a similar instruction for the early church to “greet one another with a kiss of love“. And Jesus is recorded in Luke’s gospel narrative, totally ripping the Jewish leaders at a feast for forgetting to give him a “kiss of greeting“.

Essentially, there is no reason (beyond our own cultural boundaries of personal space) why American followers of Jesus aren’t still employing the sacred greeting of the holy kiss. Except that it’s a bit awkward for everyone.

Have I employed the rare greeting of the holy kiss? Yes. I must confess.

NEVER with a female (except my lady). And NEVER on the lips.

Next time I see you… I’m still all good with a holy handshake… and the occasional holy hug.

You can save up your holy kisses for another person.

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Filed Under: Gospelplanting, Sermoneering, Storytelling Tagged With: Gospelplanting, Sermoneering, Storytelling

.: peace in the city…

May 1, 2015 by Ryan Weaver Leave a Comment

Peace. We pray for peace in the city. We work for peace in the city.

The media news outlets keep reminding us that Baltimore City is in a state of “uneasy peace”. Even with the most-recent news, the delicate balance of peace between many individuals and agencies is the responsibility of the collective. There is no party more responsible for peace than another. In the ecosystem of the city… peace is the responsibility of all citizens, elected officials, law enforcement, governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and faith-based churches. But this tension of peace is not only present in Baltimore City. This delicate balance is present in my city… and yours as well.

Peace-seeking is rooted in the personal, familial, and communal.

Working for peace begins in our personal lives, in our own families, and among our neighbors in our own community. Working for peace and doing justice for strangers in another city while ignoring the peace-work and justice-needs in our own neighborhood is a level of hypocrisy that will undermine even the most beautiful peace and justice efforts. If we are breathing, we must carry peace to ourselves. If we are fathers and mothers, we must carry peace to our children. If we are children, we must carry peace to our mothers and fathers. If we are married, we must carry peace to our spouse. If we are brothers and sisters, we must carry peace to our siblings. The work of peace will extend from these relationships to our neighbors… and then to our co-workers… and then our community… and then our city… and then the neighboring cities in our region. Because the work of peace and justice is LOCAL.

The work of peace is relational.

This relational nature of peace is the reason why workers for peace must mainitain a sustained attention to the personal, familial, and communal. We must recognize the tension, and name it. We must give the tension it’s due diligence. We must give it room to shape and mold us, our families, and our communities while we seek peace in the tension. I have written and spoken previously about the true context of peace in tension.

Peace is experienced in the midst of the storm… in the midst of the tension… while our anticipations and anxieties rage… while suffering and pain and death are striving to be the climax of our story.

Peace is NOT the absence of tension and striving. Peace is NOT the calm and the rest that we so often imagine in connection to our peace-thinking and peace-speaking and peace-working. Peace is NOT experienced as a contrast to anxiety and suffering. Instead peace should be viewed in the context of the “in between” nature of life… and the “in between” nature of justice. Peace is a place of exemption from the havoc of war, oppression, rage, and injustice in the midst of the tension that this havoc has created.

Peace is HARMONY with HOPE in the midst of the tension.

Peace is SECURITY in HOPE while the tension is creating havoc.

In the Scriptures, Jesus the King spoke of peace in the city. He looked over the skyline of Jerusalem with mourning and spoke of the eirene that he desperately desired for the city. Jesus lived in the tension, and promised a peace that would prevail in the city through the pathway of relationship.

In the Scriptures, the Prophets of old reminded the nation of Israel in exile that the work of peace is her responsibility. Israel was scattered through the surrounding nations and tribes and cultures… but the work of peace and justice was not the work of others alone. The challenge to be carriers of peace, reconciliation, and hope is also extended to us. We are intended to carry the GOOD and the HOPE to each and every city.
  

Doing GOOD in the city requires an acknowledgement of DIGNITY in relationship.

This is the hard work of peace in the midst of tension.

This is the necessary work of peace in the city.

Every life is valuable. Every life matters.

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Filed Under: Gospelplanting, Justice, Storytelling Tagged With: Gospelplanting, Justice, Storytelling

.: Justice between…

April 28, 2015 by Ryan Weaver Leave a Comment

Someone said it this weekend in one of my social media feeds::

Baltimore:: the world is watching.

After yesterday, I am now confident this statement is true.

My family watched the reports from the streets of Baltimore throughout the day on April 27th. When the time came to close our day together, instead of our normal time of stories and prayers, we turned on the live news coverage… allowing the violent footage to fill our home… allowing the hopeless madness to invade our thoughts… allowing the chaos to move our emotions… allowing the tension to fill our eyes with tears.

As we watched the community center on the Eastside of Baltimore burn, and the emergency responders work, and the bystanders move about, and the reporters speak… we allowed these images to fuel our compassion and shape our prayers.

These are not the times to shield our children from the effects of delayed justice and prolonged hopelessness. These are not the moments when we turn our attention to a meaningless diversion. These are not the days when we seek the pleasantries of distraction. These are not the seasons when fear and destruction should go unseen and unnoticed. This is the time for the work of peace. 

This is the time to engage injustice and hopelessness with the power of love… first in our homes, then in our streets.

Yesterday, in my morning prayers, the closing words centered upon the seeds of peace::

We profess to be people of peace, Lord, but keep us from the temptation to proclaim peace when there is no peace. Show us today where peace is most needed in our community and in our world. Show us which of us must plant the seeds of peace, which of us must water them, and which of us must yet become gardeners of your peace. Amen.
+ April 27 (commonprayer.net)

I love Baltimore. Not just for the architecture and history. Not just for my memories as a traveler. Not just for the proximity to the city I love. And not just so that anyone else may see me saying this.

I love Baltimore because there are men and women engaged in the work of peace and justice in those very streets. These are men and women who love Baltimore. These are doers of justice among the poor, the overlooked, the powerless.

The work of peace is not without painful wages.

Joining the hopeless will always come with a cost.

 
I do not pretend to know the path to justice for all in the streets of Baltimore, but I will not hesitate to express my dedication to pray for those who are doing the costly work of peace, and to anticipate the culmination of this work. I will wait to see how my family and I may provide support, and in the meantime I will not step back from seeking justice in my own city alongside those who are working for peace in this sacred place.

These are not the times to judge from the distance between. These are not the times to take sides between. May we be quick to remember that justice exists in the space between.

These are the times to seek the justice between. 

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Filed Under: #thisGuynamedJesus, Gospelplanting, Justice, Narrative Discipleship, Storytelling Tagged With: #thisGuynamedJesus, Gospelplanting, Justice, Narrative Discipleship, Storytelling

.: now on Amazon…

April 27, 2015 by Ryan Weaver Leave a Comment

Now available for your reading pleasure on Amazon Kindle!

There was this Guy named Jesus (a Narrative Approach to Discipleship)

Chris McIntosh :: web designer and content curator

Cameron Wilson :: graphic designer

Nate Williams :: cinematographer

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Filed Under: #thisGuynamedJesus, Gospelplanting, Narrative Discipleship, Storytelling

 .: hero…

April 26, 2015 by Ryan Weaver Leave a Comment

I am currently reading a book by Joseph Campbell, originally published in the 1940’s, called The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

The book is a comparison study of the archetypal hero featured in many of the world’s mythologies. Joseph Cambell calls the common story arc between all mythological heroes, the “monomyth“. Each hero embarks upon a journey and must travel through a story-cycle of circumstances and challenges to reach the end of the quest. This is fascinating stuff. And worth thoughtful consideration by all who love the art of story.

Not long ago, a TEDed video was also published which animates the hero’s journey according to the writings of Joseph Campbell.

Coincidentally, all of this “hero contemplation” reminds me of the Foo Fighters.

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Filed Under: Gospelplanting, Narrative Discipleship, Storytelling Tagged With: Gospelplanting, Narrative Discipleship, Storytelling

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