Reyes Gibbs Blog

Somethings Fishy Here!

This is my granddaughter Ava in her Halloween Costume at the age of six months.  Of course its not October yet, but Mom, Deanne, wanted to see how it would fit!   Isn't she just too cute!! 

Class is done!

Today the Biblical Foundations for Spritual Leadership ended and with a sense of "I wish it wouldn't end!" because I have met great folks working faithfully to make Christ relevant!   I learned that in all my kicking and screaming about the labyrinth that Spiritual practices are about being intentional in opening myself to the presence of God.    This class was wonderful!  And I didn't have to walk the labyrinth.

The significant learning for this class for me was the professor who led it, Christine Vogel. She led with a presence that invited discussion, aha's, discourse, and debate.  She was pastoral in her responses, academic when she needed to be but was a real presence to help me learn about my own spirituality.
No, I am not getting brownie points for this.  But she modeled for me a teaching style that is open and inviting. 

So what is your spiritual practice?  Do you pray before each meal?  Do you pray, at all?  Do you drink a glass of wine and say "Thanks Be to God for your abundant blessings?"   Do you take your prayer beads daily and feel their shape as you remember what the beads represent, a loved one, a world issue, or yourself?   The key for me is that  whatever your practice, it needs to be done regularly.   If your spiritual practice is to just come to church on Sunday, that is a start.  If you are not sure about a practice  or  need suggestions, let's talk!!!

Practice, Practice, Practice!!!! becomes a discipline.   A discipline helps a disciple!  A disciplined disciple is a good thing!!

Peace and Blessings, now off to do a the class project!!!!

Biblical Foundations for Spritual Leadership Part II

One of the class assignments this week was to be intentional about Sabbath. We were given examples of practices using prayer, scripture, silence, etc.   No schedule.  If we felt that we needed to sleep until the required gathering time, we could do it.   We had to be intentional about being in the presence of God and taking care of ourselves.   I decided that I would sleep in late and decide when I got up what I would do.  As God would have it the next morning I was awakened by what I thought was a car accident but really was the reclycling trucks begining their collections at 6AM!!!!  Not being able to go back to sleep, I decided that I would paint pictures of flowers I saw along the way to school.   While walking, I don't talk to anyone.  I don't have my MP3 player plugged into my ears.  The morning was beautiful.  The flowers were wonderful.  I thanked God for the morning and was able to see the infinite colors of the trees and the flowers. After thanking God, I started talking to God about my family, the church I serve, myself and asking God the questions about the world and the future.    It was a great walk to school.  One of the learnings is that I need to take time to just be and to enjoy...and make a date with God regularly.  When's your date with God?

Biblical foundations for Spiritual Leadership Part I

I am in hot, muggy, thuderstormy, lightning, rain, Chicago!  I am enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at McCormick Theological seminary (Why?  I keep asking myself as I contemplate papers and thesis.)  The class I am taking is entitled above and is about faith practices based on the Bible.  For me to be a better person, leader and pastor, this class will help me learn skills and practices to intentionally be in the presence of God.   Before coming to class, I had to find a children's book that has been a fruitful source of bliblicl and spiritual reflection of my ministry - this task was daunting, I couldn't pick one - so I am bringing  to class Old Turtle and the Broken Truth, Filipino Children's Favorite Stories and The Sneetches.   Old Turtle is about people who fight over THE TRUTH.  The creation stories in the Filipino children's book are great, and of course, The Sneetches are about wanting to be the chosen.   All put together sounds like ministry to me!

The next thing I had to bring was a piece of music  that speaks to the "soundtrack" of my faith and life.  Now this is a challenge for me, I like all kinds of music and they all have a message for me.  I was going to bring the CD Bruce made for me, "Cheesy Songs for Mom" but couldn't find it.  So instead I'm bringing a compilation of Music that Lauren made, either I'll share the "Angry" songs or the "Feel Good" songs.  I can't think of one song (maybe you can) that reflects my life and faith. Maybe "Amazing Grace" or "525,600 minutes" from rent.

These two assignments were at first "goofy" for me but after thinking about it and doing some searching, It was interesting to focus on what I believe my foundations for ministry are so for today its about the TRUTH, Creation, Being Chosen, Angry and Feeling Good.  That about summarizes it.   Here's your assignment What's your children's book that reflects how you feel, act or puzzle about your faith?  or What is the soundtrack that you would pick for your faith and life?   

A Reflection of Yourself

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly..." (1Corinthians 13:12)  People are always telling other people to look in the mirror and see who they are.   The mirror in fairy tales has been a source of fortune telling or keeping track of others.   When Paul was speaking of the mirror, he must have been talking about the mirror in my dorm room (which is dimly lit)  at the International House at the Universitsy of Chicago.   I rarely look at a mirror, it reminds me of how old, fat, and just because.  Mirrors speak volumes.   But I have fallen in love with the dorm room mirror.  The mirror  makes me hecka thin and taller!  Must be so that when students look at it they don't look fat and won't become anorexics and won't look at another mirror.   But it was great this morning to get up and find out that I had lost the extra 20 pounds I'm working on. Take a look!   Warning this mirror has major side effects  When you leave the room, you will leave your thinner, taller self and if you stare at the mirror and marvel at your new self, you will get a headache!!   Have a great day!

I've Got a Secret

Happy Father's Day!   Today I flew out of Oakland to Chicago and it was a mess!   The lines swerved around the building and inside the terminals.   It was chaos and, of course, there were no  Southwest employees giving directions.   I asked someone if anything happened that created this mess.  The answer was, "It's Sunday - its always this crazy on Sunday!! (mental note don't fly out on Sunday mornings!) 

Joel dropped me off at the doors.   I noticed two long lines.  One line was next to the road, for curbside checkin, the other line was next to the building for those who checked in electronically.   As I was walking, someone from the curbside line was shouting, "If you got baggage to check in, this is the line!")  I hadn't found the end of any lines yet, so I figured I'd make that decision when I found a line that had an end. And I noticed that the line closest to the building also had luggage to check in.     As I was still walking, someone from the line next to the building, looked me in the eye and said, "Go to this line, its faster!"  And he was right.  Once you get to the beginning of the line there are at least 12 kiosks to help you check in baggage and get you to your gate, while the curbside folks had only four people helping.   

But back in the line, I waited and noticed how quickly we moved.  So I thought I might as well tell some folks, "Go in this line its quicker!"  Some of the reactions I got were unexpected!  Some folks looked at me like I was crazy and to spite me, went into the longer, slower line.  Others, thanked me and went to the faster line.   Then I watched everyone else who was in the faster line.  We had a secret, "We are in the faster line!"  Some shared the secret to certain folks, others they ignored.   One family with several kids in tow was obviously frustrated, so I said, "This line is quicker."  They went to the slower line.  I stopped sharing my secret.

This event reminded me of faith and faith communities.  We've got a great message to share.  God loves you!  Pass it on!!!  When you are sick, in trouble, or alone, God will be there for you!  Pass it on!   But we don't we are afraid folks might look at us strangely or call us names.    We've got a secret and we want to share it with everyone?  Okay, we want to share it with the folks who call us by name?  We want to share it with only the good-looking people?    When and how do we share this Good News with integrity and authenticity so that people believe us and come and see how Bethel loves and cares?   

No Food in the Sanctuary

In cleaning up the sanctuary the other day, I found a pile of old polaroid pictures.  In this pile was a picture of me in one of my first children's sermons at Bethel.   It brought back memories.  Looking at the picture ('d share it with you but I don't have a scanner yet), its a wonder I'm still at Bethel, I had a horrible haircut and I was wearing white socks with black shoes!  Who was that person!

But back to why the picture,   I was sharing the message of communion with the children.  I explained that  common bread and drink was used for the celebration.     As I talked about communion, I spread out a picnic blanket in the front of the Sanctuary, invited the children to come up, and bought out a picnic basket.  The basket contained all the snacks they liked plus bananas.   I shared with them the purpose of communion and how it was a celebration of Jesus' life and his resurrection.   The kids had a great time.   Here's what I learned about that exercise.

• Don't use snacks in cellophane wrappers.  I never realized how much noise they make while in the Sanctuary.
• Don't use bananas as the fruit.  Our boys (of course, the boys!) put the bananas in their ears, made them look like horns and let's just say that they used the bananas to represent all their body parts!
• Raisins will never be considered grapes no matter how I explain that raisins are dried grapes.
• The children claimed their space and embraced their meal with gusto and enthusiasm, much moe than adults.
• I should put a picnic blanket out for the adults.

I did get a call from an elder that said, "There should be no food in the sanctuary!"   The sanctuary is not meant for eating.   I thanked the elder for the kind words and explained that the sanctuary is about feeding, feeding souls, spirits and yes, even the stomach.   The next Sunday, I used a pizza, using the crust as the foundation (Jesus) and all the toppings celebrating the diversity of choices, people, and tastes!!
I didn't get any more complaints.  I wonder could it have been that the children shared their pizza with the adults? 

A Citizen with Benefits

I read in the June 14, LA Times  how an American Citizen a 29 year old developmentally disabled Latino was dropped off in Tiajuana because the authorities assumed he was an illegal .Because he was in jail they were allowed to extradite him to his country of origin.  Someone forgot to let someone know he was born here but alas.   He was arrested for suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and in April was sentenced to 40 days in the the LA County jail.   

And then I read about Ms. Hilton
'Twenty-three days would be considerably more than the average person given her sentence would actually serve.'— Stan Goldman, professor of criminal law and procedure at Loyola Law School on Paris Hilton

HMM let's see, violating probation for a driving under the influence 40 days, dropped to 23 days.   Misdemeanor trespassing 40 days and extradition!!

Sounds pretty fair to me!!

When my children get married....

Lauren is getting married on July 14.  She just graduated from Wellesley last year.   Wait....didn't she just start walking?   Time goes by so quickly and what fills up that time are the memories, good and bad.  But watching Lauren opening wedding presents with her beloved, Beadle, it seemed so surreal for me. 
She has grown up to be a responsible, beautiful, intellgent young woman and I feel as if she's leaving me.  Yes, I know that this is so irrational.   

When Bruce (my first born) got marred, I was not a good person.  I was awfull.  Stories about that should not be on the internet.  There is video tape of that day of my bad attitude.  Bruce and I are only 20 years apart and was my best buddy.   He got married, I thought, too young.  I was a young mother and didn't want him to have a difficult time, since he hadn't graduated from college yet and was planning on entering Seminary.   Too much for one selfish mother to take.  Nothing against Robin, I just didn't want him to get married.  Live together!!! that's the ticket.   They got married and have been married for 16 years and I am blessed with three beautiful grandaughters.  I asked Robin for forgiveness for my bad attitude and grace abounds.  I am also wonderfully blessed with a great daughter in Robin.   They got married with relatively few expenses  (Get this:  They had "no presents" on their wedding invitation!-many obviously ignored their request). 

When Deanne got married.  She gave us only six weeks notice.   She and Ron decided not to be bogged down with wedding details.  Deanne is a wonderful event organizer and her wedding went off without a hitch.  She had graduated from college, had her own car and credit and she was 25.   I was better.  I learned from my experience with Bruce that I need to say nothing.   I didn't have to say anything.  We loved Ron!! (Now if she were marrying a previous boyfried, there might have been thing said.) They were old enough.
Ron and Deanne too care of all the details and it was a wonderful event (except for a few glitches from one of the sides, not mine, nor ron's).  I again I am blessed with a granddaughter Ava.

Now Lauren, she's just 23. (I know I sound like she going off to fight in the war!)  I know she is mature for her age a good head on her shouldhers, etc.  She makes good choices and is a blessing.  Joel and I have taught her responsiblity, independence and the intricacies of family communication.  She is crazy in love with Beadle as he is with her.  I am having a good attitude.  But the tears come when I think, she's no longer "mine."  I have to share her and I wasn't ready for this just yet.   By July 14, I will have worked this out or not, but I promise to behave!

The Emergent Church or Who's on First?

I have been in active ministry for about 20 years of which 8.5 are as pastor of Bethel.   In those years, I have worked with children, families, pastors, clogged toilets, broken copier machines, musicians etc.  all in the name of church.    In those 20 years it has been an amazing journey with lots of changes.  My perspective of church has changed often in those years.   Why?  because the world and culture has changed.

I recently attended an "emergent" gathering whose goal was to have conversations around diffent subjects:theology, marketing, spirituality, relevance of church or its building.....   The converations were interesting and I was in the presence of many leaders, pastors and lay, that knew that something needed to be done to make the church relevant.   Some of the leaders don't like to say church in their conversations or Jesus or institution...the words that have put the church in a box so that many choose not to come in.   Others have the key, small groups, coffe shops....and others like me, keep stumbling along.  The other great part of this gathering is that the majority was filled with folks under the age of 50, except for me and a couple of other oldies.   I love being surrounded with such energy!

I say a community of faith, a Christian community, needs to be centered on Jesus.   That's where the problem begins  for most.  There were folks there that identified themselves as recovering Southern Baptists, where Jesus was used as a weapon to "beat" people into submission and others had different perspectives about what Jesus really meant and did.  Would Jesus really care about someone's personal sex life?   Some stayed away from the "Evangelism" word and rather wanted to talk about Mission and how the church's mission could be about Jesus and Jesus' service.   

What was the goal of the gathering?  I thought conversation.  Others wanted answers.   It does no good to share ideas and thoughts if one can't get a magic pill to fix it.   The statement was something to the effect, "now I've learned of this stuff (emergent readings, books, conversations), you've !#%*! with my mind, now what?   Church life is like the old joke "Who's on First?"  Its confusing, frustrating and we are always asking "Who's on First?" 

People want a magic pill in church health.   The truth is that leadership in the church has to be willing to take risks and work 24/7 for change.   That's the hard part and that is definitely a pill very few want to swallow.   So there are books, experts, and communities working very hard at making the church relevant to those on the outside .  The key is to take what you hear and use only those things that you are willing to to take risks.  For my ministry, risk is the key.   Every failure leads to one success.   I trust God in my failures and give thanksgiving and praises when the church and I work together for a better future.   I am still committed to going to these conversations because they are inspiringand I do learn new concepts which hopefully will make me a better pastor.