Jonny Leano: Addressing Identity in a Centered-Set Church

"Hawaii is a racially diverse place. Former Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingle says that Hawaii is a place where the “racial and ethnic lines are often blurred or deemed irrelevant.” In other words, Hawaii focuses on racial diversity at the center. And racial diversity in Hawaii is a great source of pride that distinguishes us from the mainland.

"But for me, Hawaii was not a racially diverse paradise. I am part of a growing population of immigrant Filipinos in Hawaii, and as of 2010, Filipinos surpassed Japanese to become the second-largest racial group in Hawaii, just behind Caucasians.

"Yet I still felt racism and xenophobia growing up. I was teased for being Filipino. I also witnessed how neighborhoods were segregated based on race and class. And this was confusing. I thought that fellow Hawaiians celebrated our different racial identities… but sometimes I felt that Filipinos were the exception…"

This week, Jonny Leano shared with us his experiences growing up as a Filipino citizen in Hawai’i--and later participating in predominantly white churches in America. Listen in (or read his notes) for more on how we can become a spiritual community that allows people to live out their full identities and share their unequal experiences of race and class—yet still maintain a focus on Jesus as the one who brings us together.

Faith Is A Two-Way Thing

"When I was in middle school, I went through confirmation. I had been baptized as a kid in a mainline denominational church. And then around 12 or 13, I was told it was time for confirmation. Along with all the other sixth graders, I took a class. Now I always liked studying, but this was boring. I don’t remember really learning anything about what I’d now call the Christian faith. There was nothing about the Bible. Nothing about the trinity; no Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Nothing about connection to Jesus. Nothing about how to connect with God, but a lot about the history of my particular denomination.

At the end of the class,  we'd all get up in front of the church, wear a nice dress and let the pastor put a bit of oil on each of our heads. It was nothing special for me. I was probably thinking about if we might go out for pizza afterwards, like most of my friends. But there was one girl who wasn’t like the rest of us; Kelly. Something different was happening for her. When she kneeled and the pastor blessed her with oil, she was weeping. She was shaking a bit. She was visibly moved. Something was clearly happening for her and it seemed to be real.  I knew Kelly. I trusted her. I didn’t know what she was feeling but I knew it was something genuine. Further more, I wanted it, but I didn’t understand where it came from."

Have you ever seen others have powerful spiritual experiences, but not felt them yourself? Have you wondered if experiences of the Holy Spirit are for just some people, or might be available to all of us? In this first teaching, Leah explores this question and how we'll be addressing it through the season of Lent, which we're calling "40 Days of Interactive Faith".

Listen to the teaching below or read the notes here. And check out our Daily Guide for ways to participate in this series throughout the week.

Sabbath as Resistance

As we continue our series "Soul Care for Seasons of Stress", Leah takes a look at the Biblical framework of Sabbath, particularly informed by scholar Walter Brueggemann's book Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now. In Brueggemann's words, "Sabbath is a bodily act of testimony to alternative and resistance to pervading values and the assumptions behind those values.” Listen below or read Leah's notes to learn more here.

After Leah's teaching on a Biblical framework for Soul Care, Celia Emmelhainz shares her Soul Care practice of Poetry. She shares how reading and writing poetry have helped manage highs and lows in her life. She points us to other poetry lovers as well, like Abraham Lincoln, and reflects on how their practices shaped them, too. Her portion begins in the audio below at minute 35. Celia's notes are also available here.

Even Jesus Needed a Break

Many of us are feeling the stress of this season not only in our own life, but in our country. Through sustained seasons of stress, how do we take care of ourselves so we can stay engaged in life for the long term? Is self-care even a valid concern, or simply an expression of privilege. 

Audre Lord was a leading activist in the 20th Century. She was a poet, a writer, a feminist, a womanist, a lesbian, and a civil-rights leader. She said the following on self-care, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."

In this new series, which we will come back to periodically, we will explore "Soul Care for Seasons of Stress". With a unique format, Leah will lead us through some Biblical frameworks for caring for our selves and our souls, and then other Haven-ites will take the time to share some of their own unique soul care practices, and help us discern if they might be something that could work for others of us, or inspire us along the way to finding our own rhythms and practices. 

In this Sunday's teaching, David Lai shares about his practice of meditation and Connie Barker shares about her practice of Bible Reading.

See Leah's notes for this week here. Listen to the entire teaching below. David's portion begins just before 23 minutes, Connie's at minute 36.

Communities That Don't Hurt

If Rene Girard was right in identifying that we are all mimetic, how can we channel our mimetic tendencies toward good? Is it possible to create communities that aren't ruled by rivalry and violence, but encourage collective flourishing? These are the kinds of questions Leah addresses in the last teaching in the series on Rene Girard, "Why We Hurt One Another".

Listen below and/or see her notes here.

Who Tells Your Story?

Jesus tells the story of a widow who kept going to an unjust judge, asking him to hear her case. And he kept ignoring her just case, again and again. 

What's a person to do in a time like that? This week, guest speaker Bianca Louie reflects on the widow's story in the context of her own story: 

"During those really rough two years... I didn't feel heard by the people around me. And as an Asian-American woman that feeling of being unheard is really familiar and fatiguing. I really wasn't sure if God heard me either.

And as I continued to face rejection and exclusion, yet continued to do what I sense the Holy Spirit was calling me to do, it all felt in vain a lot of the time. But what kept me going when I didn't feel heard..." 

Listen in below (or read the notes) to hear more of Bianca's thoughts on what kept the persistent widow going in Jesus' story... and what kept her going in the face of the setbacks in her own story:

Let's Talk About Jesus

Photo by Jonathan Weitz. Creative Commons License, 2010.

The stories we tell matter. Stories communicate how we see the world, what we value, what we look to, where our hope is. But sometimes, as people of faith, we have a hard time telling our story, particularly when it comes to the crucifixion of Jesus. What does Jesus' death say about the character God? Why would God require the death of his own son to save communicate His love?

A number of us in the Blue Ocean network have found the work of Rene Girard particularly helpful for the lens it gives us in understanding the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. In this teaching, Leah explores how Girard helps Jesus followers better understand and tell the Jesus story.

Listen to the teaching below and/or check out Leah's notes here.

This Is All Your Fault

How does mimetic desire lead to rivalry and then to violence against a single victim? This is a pattern literary critic and anthropologist Rene Girard noticed throughout literature and ancient mythology, but interestingly in the Hebrew Bible, he saw something different beginning to unfold. Listen in this week as Leah describes Girard's theory of violence, how it manifests in ancient myths like the Oedipus story, and what clues God might be giving in the Hebrew Bible to address and undo the power of violence at work.

Listen to the teaching below and/or check out Leah's notes here.

Desire: It's Contagious

What motivates us to hurt each other? Actually... what motivates us at all?

This week, we look at Rene Girard's ideas on the origins of human violence, which he suggests come not juts from wanting what other people have--but also from seeing what they want and then wanting that thing ourselves. So we catch our friends posting about their vacation plans, desired purchase, or that new iPhone that they want, and pretty soon we're thinking... I want that too! 

So what do we do with all this wanting? And how do we channel it in positive directions, so that it doesn't lead to resentment or envy of others? For some ideas, listen to Leah's message below, or read her notes here.