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March 2006 |
Body, Mind & Spirit
Open minds
By Todd Outcalt
For the past year I've been meeting with a growing number of people at a local restaurant bright and early on Wednesday mornings to talk about current events and study books. I say a growing number because, as our little group has expanded, we've just about taken over the restaurant some mornings, especially when our conversation gets loud. Fortunately, we have the same waitress each week. She takes our orders and delivers food without fanfare.
Currently, we are studying a book by the Dalai Lama entitled, The Art of Happiness. It's a deep read, and one that is challenging many of our assumptions and ideas. Our group is eclectic, with a strong blend of older and younger people, men and women, working and retired - and this intergenerational mix often lends itself to diversity of thought.
Offering this early morning study group has taught me that, indeed, we are a people who value intellectual exploration and the sanctuary of the mind. We believe ourselves to be a people of Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors and others may wonder what this means.
Recently, after having our church float in an annual town parade and displaying our Open Hearts, Minds and Doors banner, someone from another congregation challenged me to explain why we would be "open" to anything. His model of the church was one of closed doorways and protected truths, as if God were calling us to fashion fortresses rather than communities, or creeds rather than a living body. I began by explaining that all are welcome. We are a people who value the body and mind as well as the soul. I further pointed out that our history was comprised of hospitals and colleges spread across the landscape - further testimony to our openness and concern for the whole person.
Thank God we are a people who are yet alive. We are not so dead that we cannot argue with each other, hold differing opinions or learn how to forgive. We really are a people who value exploration, dialogue and discussion. I see this each week. I get to be a part of it. In fact, it's fun to get a peek into another person's mind - to understand what makes that person tick, to see how diverse lives find their way to the same pew and altar. It's a joy to be able to say, "Here's what I think - and not because I'm the pastor!"
Is your church a people and a place where open minds are welcomed and cherished? It's incredible to see the wonder of so many awkward, strange, downtrodden, successful, insightful, caring and hopeful people worshipping, praying and reading together. I've got to believe that's one of our greatest witnesses to God's awesome grace - the very fact that we can learn from each other as we live out the faith Jesus taught to us.
Todd Outcalt serves as senior pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church in Brownsburg, Ind.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008