The Carpenter's Fellowship

Unveiling "The Carpenter's Fellowship"

Someone famous has said, "Throughout church history's greatest revivals have typically followed periods of spiritual darkness. During those periods small groups of people desperately desired spiritual awakening. Prayer was viewed as necessity and not an option." A number of believers have been praying for just such an awakening in our country. What was birthed as a nudge in their spirits has developed in to an overwhelming desire to enter the rhythm of God and operate as his conduit upon the earth. (2 Chronicles 7.14). Many such believers have sought and prayed for a framework within which they can be united.

While there are myriads of Religious Orders throughout the world, it seems that all have connection with denominational structures such as the Catholic or Episcopal churches and therefore are cloaked in unnecessary ritual and cumbersome formality.

The Carpenter's Fellowship (TCF) is founded in honor of Jesus, The Carpenter from Nazareth. We believe it is HE who is building us in to a spiritual temple. TCF is nondenominational and is not about routine, form, or ritual. Rather, TCF is a group of individuals committed to the goal of daily living in rhythm with God. It is a group of Christians united in their love for Jesus Christ and for one another. The Fellowship is comprised of men and women who are committed to the following, Scripturally based, "rule of life".

RULE OF LIFE:

1. Give and require respect
2. Live with integrity
3. Maintain balance
4. Be spiritual not religious
5. Forgive others and self
6. Pursue peace
7. Seek simplicity

While members seek to embody a life characterized by the above, TCF is also a decidedly contemplative order -- punctuated by prayer, study, worship, and service. There are two ways to become connected to this growing network of believers.

TCF Oblate members commit to the following:

Prayer @ 9a,12p, and 6p
Daily study
2 hours contemplative prayer each week
Regular corporate worship
Yearly personal retreat of 24 hours
Routine service of others

TCF Community members commit to the following:

Prayer @ 9a,12p, 3p, and 6p
Daily study
3 hours contemplative prayer each week
Regular corporate worship
Yearly personal retreat of 48 hours
Routine service of others
Cultivate periods of personal solitude
Mentoring of another
Bi-yearly report regarding walk with Jesus / hopes / struggles
Living in community at the Center or with another committed to the order

All TCF members are individuals who are steadfast in their desire to be fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. Rhythmic times of prayer are honored throughout the day in which members take a moment or two to focus upon Jesus, their role in the Kingdom, and lift fellow members up to The Lord.

To find out more about more about The Carpenter's Fellowship or to pursue a connection with this group of believers, please email us at:

thecarpentersfellowship@gmail.com

Trombiculidae

        A few weeks ago I was invited to go for an impromptu walk in the woods.  The company was good.  The conversation was light.  I found humor in watching the tree tops sway in the breeze while the dense foliage prevented my enjoyment of such refreshment. The path was well marked, though not well traveled.  Spiders often shared their creativity with me as well as their ability to blend as I would sometimes admire their webs and other times run head long in to them. The 7 mile stroll went largely without incident.  The bear scat was fresh but not steaming ... the snake was colorful but not poisonous.

       However amazing and peaceful this particular stroll through the woods was for me, the real adventure began when I returned home. Entirely unknown to me was the stowaway -- several in fact. They are called trombiculidae by those with initials before or after their names.  I call them chiggers.

      Typically I am better prepared as I walk through the woods.  This trip, as I have mentioned, was impromptu and I failed to apply any insect repellent to my shoes, socks, and legs.  My oversight was not soon forgotten as the itching began from the waist down and would not subside for several days.  I have discovered that chiggers are opportunists. They don't bury themselves under the skin as I have always been told. Truth be told, fingernail polish, (however colorful) has no greater negative effect upon these creatures than a spider web in the way of a charging bear.  I have no idea why God made chiggers.  But I do know the lesson the Rabbi has taught me through the recent experience.

     Chiggers have learned to put themselves in just the right position and then wait -- wait for some unsuspecting person or animal to walk through the grass and then -- at just the right moment, they let go of the grass and grab hold of "dinner".  Amazing.  Consider the tenacity of the chigger.  Consider the extensive planning (or instinct) these creatures possess.

     And yet, here's the question that has me (forgive the pun) bugged.  Why aren't we at least as tenacious and intentional as the chigger? Moreover, why don't we plan to be near whatever it is that we want/need?  And when by chance we end up in the right spot at the right time, why are we so unwilling to let go of what we have to embrace the gift that has come?

    The TV show asks, "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Jesus seems to be asking something even more profound.  "Are we as smart as chiggers?"

     You ponder that.

Tragedy

Sometimes things happen in our lives that we cannot explain and have difficulty even surviving. Such is the nature of tragedy.  Tragedy can occur in our lives with no apparent rhyme or reason.  Or tragedy can happen by our own fingertips.  Either way, no matter how much we may try to do so, we can never go back and change a single moment of our lives.  Someone famous has said, "Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live." Rich thought.  How many of us have our sights set on a tragedy contained within our past?  How many of us have grown so comfortable with the event that we carry it with us wherever we go?  How many of us have begun even to use it as a guide?  Forrest Gump recalled, "Mama always said, "You have to put your past behind you before you can move forward." I think, once you have learned from the tragedy, Mama was right! Is the tragedy in YOUR life a tool or a guide?  You ponder that. 

Emotions

As a counselor I have discovered emotions often present as nebulous creatures.  The extreme between love and hate is often separated only by unmet desire. Someone famous once said, "From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate." Truly hate, in its most base form, becomes deadliest to the one in whom it resides.  It is from there that hate festers and warps the life of an individual.  Today we should each consider checking our deepest desires and ask ... "Are my desires driving me to become a better person, or are they becoming a cesspool within which I am sinking?" You ponder that.

The Shadow

Someone famous has said, "Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act, falls the shadow." Truly, if the sun is shining behind one before walking through the door to the inside, a shadow is cast - not the real thing, but an image - an image that may say something about the one entering or may in fact be quite misleading.  The point is there is much that may be revealed between an idea and a reality.  If you and I have an idea to be a better person that is of some value. However, intentionally set that idea into motion - make it reality - and that idea becomes worth a great deal more.  You ponder that. 

Changes

The other day I found myself at a party in which there were many folk I hadn’t seen in a long time.  As I surveyed the faces sitting around the room I was a bit surprised by the new wrinkles I saw … new contours of the face … some with new found peace … others with eyes that betrayed the sorrow of past years.  It was then that it dawned upon me – there are precious few things one can truly count on in this life – one of those things is change. 

While some people seek change and others avoid it like the plague, change is concomitant with this journey we call life.  Today, as I look into the mirror, I see the story of 52 winters.  It is a story written with many chapters of love, laughter, success, and victory.  It is a story punctuated by a few chapters of loneliness, failings, and the agony of defeat.  It is my story.  I have earned every grey hair, wrinkle, and scar.  You have a story as well.  

Listening to the stories shared around the table at the party I am struck by just how much people have changed … how much they have grown … in knowledge and as people.  I am reminded that, like mine, their story is still being written. 

Through the sun sets, the passing moons, and even the fleeting winters – every soul around the table is in transition – sifting ideas, hopes, beliefs, dreams, traditions, and things held most dear. You are changing as well. Change comes with living – we can’t control it.  How we change … for the good or for the worse … THAT is what we can control. 

2 weeks notice

Yesterday I had something happen that was most disappointing.  For over a month all indications were that I would receive what I had come to view as a prize.  Days turned in to weeks and the weeks melted in to a new moon and a New Year.  The sunshine of yesterday and the mood of coworkers seemed to confirm the ultimate crescendo that had been building.  And then, just when it felt the heavens might burst with anticipation, the announcement came… the “prize” had been given to another.

Reception of the news brought the normal feelings of disappointment, frustration, resentment, and even anger. Yet with the rising of this morning’s sun, a new feeling has washed over me.  The feeling came on the tail end of a thought – a memory really – a memory that had clawed its way from the depth of my past. 

As I recall, I was about 8 years old when Grandfather and I were sharing a quiet moment and he said, “Wayne, live like you only have 2 weeks left.” Though he departed this earth some 40 winters ago, this morning, it seems as though Grandfather has spoken again. If life had given me 2 weeks notice yesterday, the coveted prize I sought would surely have lost its shine. All things considered, I’m thinking most things that cause upset or hurt or disappointment in our lives might fall off our backs like water if we only kept the perspective Grandfather shared.

Tim McGraw sings the song, “Live like you were dying”.  Now I don’t know if Tim in fact lives that way or if he wrote the words to this song, but perhaps Grandfather had learned a truth which was not exclusive at all. Maybe others have also learned to keep perspective amid the disappointments and traumas of life by asking the simple question, “If I had two weeks to live, would this (prize, trauma, or disappointment) be that important?” 

Yes Tim, we should all live like we were dying.  And yes Grandfather, thanks for the reminder that life has given me two weeks notice.