I learned a wonderful new latin expression last week, "Solvitur Ambulando." It means, roughly, "the solution is found in walking." Attributed to Augustine, it probably pre-dates him. So often one can sit or lie about stewing on a problem or challenge. But getting the body in motion helps. Instead of "I'll sleep on it;" we might say, "I'll walk on it." Solvitur Ambulando!

Up in Canada last week, there was lots in the news about the company that created the Blackberry device, "Research in Motion." Turns out that having hit the big time and climbed to the top in 2007, Blackberry then failed to be sufficiently in motion. It's keyboard technology has been eclipsed by touch phone technology. In four short years RIM has failed to keep up, dramatically losing market share and canning its leadership team. The "keeping up" and adaptive pace isn't quite that rapid for churches, but the point is similar. Change or die. The trick, of course, is to figure out what to change and what not to change. Or as Heifetz puts it, distinguishing what's "precious" from what's "expendable."

The UCC Writers Group has done a daily devotional booklet for Lent 2012, which begins on February 22. It's called "Give It Up for Lent." Cost is $6 per copy for the 56 page booklet, or about half that for orders of 5 or more. The devotionals are not the same as those that will appear on line during Lent. Here's the link for information and ordering.

Tomorrow evening (Tuesday January 31) I'll be doing a Webinar for the Long Island, New York based Parish Resource Center. It's the first of three under the title, "Leading Change and Living To Tell the Story." Open to anyone who is interested until they hit their max number (100 I think) Tomorrow evening's (7:00 to 8:00 EST) will look at "Being Church in a New Time," and three specific adaptive responses: spiritual experience forward with God-centered worship; faith formation forward with small groups; and mission forward with connecting to the community. For information and registration here's that link.

Final commercial announcement. Congregational Leadership NW and a team that includes yours truly is doing a workshop in Seattle this Saturday, February 4, "The Naked Truth: What Are You Saying about Human Sexuality and Christian Faith?" Click on "learning opportunities" at the top right of this site to go to the Congregational Leadership NW website, from there to "Events and Seminars." Amy Johnson, Kmbris and Kendal Bond are other leaders of a workshop that will help clergy and laity take a look at the messages we get or have gotten about sexuality from background, Scripture, the culture, experience. And then to craft our own message and how we deliver it.

For Seattle/Puget Sound area folks let me give an enthusiastic recommendation on behalf of the play currently at the Seattle Rep, "How to Write a New Book of the Bible," by award-winning playwright and Jesuit priest, Bill Cain. It tells the story of his living with and caring for his dying mother. The idea is that our own family stories and lives are sacred and if we pay attention a place of God's revelation. Honest but never harsh; touching but not sentimental; a good and true story about family, aging, love and why it all matters. It runs through February 5.

Perhaps you heard the "Fresh Air" interview with Woody Allen last week? Terri Gross asked Allen about his sometimes dark view of life. He told the classic Jewish joke about the two women at a resort in the Catskills. One says, "The food here is awful." The second says, "Yes, and such small portions." Life, said Allen, is like that. It's full of sorrow and suffering, tragedy and loss, and yet its over much too quickly and we can't help but long for more.

I'm in Toronto for the first three days of this week,
doing some work for Toronto United Church Council. I'm keynote an event on "discipleship/ faith formation." Actually we came to Toronto on Friday, Linda accompanying me. We had a wonderful, and quite sunny, weekend visiting favorite places and seeing friends from the year we lived here. Linda headed back Sunday afternoon. I'll go home Wednesday night.

Interesting to be in conversation with folks of our age, more or less, here. There's one particular factor that bears on similar conversations in the States that doesn't come up here. That topic? Health care benefits and coverage as people think about how much longer they are going to work or the situation of their young adult children. Canadians don't have to worry about such matters with nationalized health care, the quality of which most people here seem to be feel quite good about. I guess even our modest health care reform is what leads Republican's to call Obama a "socialist."

With Seattle's snow/ice storm last week we barely made it to the airport and out of town early Friday morning. I did a piece for Crosscut that featured some great literary quotes about winter as well as my recommendations for five extraordinary films that people may have missed and might wish to curl up with on a winter's night. Four of the five are foreign films. Here's the link.

Last week here I mentioned Paul Hoffman's new book, Faith Forming Faith, about Phinney Ridge Lutheran's adult catechumentate, "The Way." I've long felt mainline and progressive churches ought to have the courage to raise the bar and expect or ask more of people. Here's Paul on that theme in relation to "The Way," which is a year long process of preparation for baptism and baptismal living.

• "For too long, we as clergy have not held the Gospel's demand for discipleship in the esteem it deserves. While we often complain about how willing our congregational members seem to be to make large commitments to sports leagues, work, recreation, or other endeavors, our response has often been to make being a member of the church as easy and as painless as possible. Yet this is not true to the Gospel of Christ, who continually reminded those who would follow him that to do so means to follow in the way of the cross. It has been our experience that by asking much of those who desire to follow Jesus, we all receive much in return."

We worshipped at Bloor Street United Church (of Canada) on Sunday. The gospel reading was Jesus' call of his disciples from Mark. The order of worship included the following prayer, which I appreciated (maybe you will too):

• "God of comfort, God of challenge,
  we come to you today standing on the shorelines of our lives,
  standing at the in-between time of the now and the about-to-be,
  seeking connections between the dry land we stand on now
  and the waters of creativity and new life in you.
  May your Holy Spirit seek us out, inspire us,
  and call us to the future you have for us.
  We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

I liked "the shorelines of our lives," and "the in-between time of the now and the about-to-be." Linda and I look toward some big transitions and an unknown future in the coming year. The implicit acknowledgement that the place of creativity and new life is also the watery place of chaos and uncertainty is true. May the Holy Spirit seek and sustain you on whatever shoreline of life you stand upon.