a new doxology

The following prayer comes from The Oxford Book of Prayer, which besides having a really academic-sounding title, is a wonderful collection of beautiful and diverse prayers conveniently arranged by topic, style, origin and even prayers from other religions (”other” referring to religions not Christian). The prayers come from Scripture (Psalms, Prophets, Jesus, Paul’s letters) as well as anonymous and well-known theologians and writers from throughout history (Augustine, Bonhoeffer, Luther, Kierkegaard, Mother Theresa, etc.). This prayer in particular speaks to me because I think it puts thoughts that have been running through my mind lately into words. It’s written by a man listed only by the name Bernard, who was a member of the Society of St. Francis (I tried to wikipedia Bernard and couldn’t find anything about him). I suggest reading Bernard’s prayer out loud to make it your prayer; speak these old words back into life.

Lord, I want to love you, yet I’m not sure.
I want to trust you, yet I’m afraid of being taken in.
I know I need you, yet I’m ashamed of the need.
I want to pray, yet I’m afraid of being a hypocrite.
I need my independence, yet I fear to be alone.
I want to belong, yet I must be myself.
Take me, Lord, yet leave me alone.
Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.
O Lord, if you are there, you do understand, don’t you?
Give me what I need but leave me free to choose.
Help me work it out my own way, but don’t let me go.
Let me understand myself, but don’t let me despair.
Come unto me, O Lord…I want you there.
Lighten my darkness…but don’t dazzle me.
Help me to see what I need to do and give me strength to do it.
O Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.

- Bernard, SSF

When did 60 Minutes get so hip? Seriously though, watch Bob Simon (the white dude from 60 Minutes) trying to groove with the beat…a which beat? It’s like Nick Cannon…hilarious!

I don’t like Steve Nash because he’s short (like me) or because he’s white (also like me), and I don’t like him because he’s a Canadian (unlike me, although it certainly adds to his bio as an NBA player that he is short, white AND Canadian). I don’t even like Steve Nash because he’s one of the most talented and entertaining basketball players in the world. I think what I like most about him is that he plays the game of basketball the way I always dreamed of playing, so watching him is like seeing my childhood hoop dreams come to life. It’s also really refreshing to listen to an athlete give great interviews without coming off as - here comes a Tom Cruise word - “glib”, but that’s just Steve Nash’s style - he’s a very real and cool dude (for a great example, watch Nash on Charlie Rose). Nash was hardly recruited coming out of high school (he went to college at Santa Clare University, a small div. I school in California), yet he somehow overcame all his apparent “disadvantages” (short, white, Canadian) to become a two-time MVP in the NBA…not the NHL. Add to this all the great things he has done to help children around the world and it turns out he’s not only a great basketball player, but a great human being. He put together a basketball game to raise money for kids in China this past summer with the help of Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming, and they convinced several other NBA players (including Carmelo Anthony and Baron Davis) to go along and support the cause. The Steve Nash Foundation supports organizations throughout the world to help grow healthy kids; from families of adoption in Steve’s native British Columbia to raising awareness to keep the children of civil war in Uganda safe. Steve’s foundation is also involved with environmental issues and efforts to help situations of poverty, and because he knows he can’t do it all on his own, he invites others to partner with his foundation through an initiative called the “10 Assist Challenge” (for you non-basketball fans, 10 assists is a basketball statistic reference). The greatest part is that Nash doesn’t seem to be doing any of this to be a good role model or to make a name for himself in the media; he really just seems to understand that his position of influence allows him the opportunity to help others, so that’s what he’s trying to do. He has been a lot more visible lately - doing interviews, magazine ads and a few commercials. The New York Times sports magazine PLAY had a great article on Nash a few weeks ago. The writer of the article spent some time hanging out with Nash in NYC where Steve has lived the past few summers, and where this past summer he was spotted riding a long-board around town and playing pickup basketball and soccer with locals…seriously, how cool is this guy?

Are you looking for a legal way to download good music for free? Do you want to learn about new music, but can’t afford to do more research than listening to 30 second previews on iTunes? Well I can’t guarantee this will fulfill all three qualifiers (legal, good, free), but I just discovered a new place to download music for free and I think most of the songs offered are pretty cool (e.g., Derek Webb, Matt Wertz, David Crowder Band, Phil Wickham and Sara Groves) – and it is all free and legal. Check out Relevant Magazine’s music download page to listen and/or download songs from their podcasts. For PC users, clicking on the “Download MP3” link next to each song will open a new window with a media player to play the song, if you want to download the song, right-click the same link and then “save links as.” For Mac users, sorry I don’t speak your language, so you’ll have to figure it out on your own.

Also, if you’re not familiar with Relevant, take a look around their site, it’s a cool magazine and the website is just as good. I recently subscribed to the print-version and it isn’t very expensive (like $12 for the year). It has become a regular in my three magazine rotation (SI, ESPN, Relevant). Relevant’s tagline is “God. Life. Progressive Culture.” Check it out at relevantmagazine.com

I have many blessings in my life (many of which I probably don’t even recognize as blessings). I have a great family, wonderful friends, material possessions (that I care far too much about), and - on my better days - a faith that guides me through life. One of the earliest expressions of thanks that I learned as a young boy was the doxology, a song that religious folks have been singing to God for several centuries. The most common version of the doxology (the one I have sung in church and at my grandma’s house since I can remember) comes from a hymn written by Thomas Ken in the 17th Century (lyrics below). The word doxology comes from two Greek words, doxa (meaning ‘glory’) and logos (meaning ‘word’), so quite literally, doxology means “words to glorify.” The title I have chosen for this blog - “a new doxology” - is not a statement against earlier doxologies, but it’s my hope that together (assuming others are interested in joining me on this journey) we will create fresh new ways to express our thanks and praise, not to mention our wonder and confusion about God. In short, I want to help create doxology remixes for today’s younger generations to discover and express new “words to glorify” using language that is meaningful to them; although I never want to forget these beautiful old words…

“Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”