Holy Adventure - Day 41

Today is Day 41 in our Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living. When I first began, I thought tomorrow would be Day 41 (I miscalculated), and that the next day would be Easter. How grand! But instead, Day 41 falls on Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus’ death on a cross. And there will be one more day before we can greet the dawn of Easter morning. So with our 41 day adventure completed today, with the completion of Jesus’ earthly life, tomorrow will be just what it is and should be… a day of silence and waiting. Tomorrow, Holy Saturday, will be a day for being in prayer, keeping vigil and contemplating what it is like to live in hope of things yet unseen.

Because of Easter, we do know “the end” of the story. We do know that life is stronger than death and love is strong than hate. But because of our lives and experiences, we know that it is sometimes hard to keep the Easter promise before us in our day to day living, especially when times get tough.

Because of Easter, we know that the adventure continues with ever new characters (like us) and ever knew situations drawing our attention and needing our response. In today’s reading Epperly writes, “Psalm 118:24 proclaims, ‘This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!’ Think of that – this is the day! Salvation and wholeness are available right now. We live eternal life one moment at a time every day. Each moment is holy and provides an opportunity to be God’s partner in healing our lives and the entire universe.” (p.203)

Today is another day in the eternity of your life. Today, in that regard, is just another day. Today is also Good Friday when we remember one who was willing to give his earthly life in order to truly live abundantly in love and in tune with God’s dreams and visions. How are you being called to lay your life down for the sake of God’s dreams and visions? It may not mean crucifixion, but it may mean times of uncertainty. It may take you out of your comfort zone and ask you to risk and dare for the sake of God’s hopes and calling.

In this time when we go with Jesus to the cross, and wait in hope and wonder for signs of the resurrection, let us reflect upon our experience of this 41 Days of Audacious Living and allow God to speak to us and call us forth into a new day – a day made for joy and hope and risk-taking adventure.

Holy Adventure - Day 39

The scripture at the opening of today’s reading is one that has always captivated my imagination. It is from I Corinthians 13 – Paul’s great “love” chapter. But usually the reader stops before they get to this particular verse, and yet, it is within the context of this discourse about real, lasting love that comes to this point of mystery and grace.

“For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully know.” I Corinthians 13:12

This verse, in the context of talking about love, reminds us of our need to be humble, because, let’s face it, none of us “knows it all.” We always need to leave room for the fact that what we think we know isn’t the whole picture, and that we may actually not have it “right.” There is always more.

This is a week of keeping it real and humble as we recount Jesus’ last week and the events leading to his execution. We know the disciples, those closest to Jesus, betrayed, denied, and abandoned Jesus. We know others spun the situation and incited the crowd. We know that in the “end” the power of love and life prevail. But, we don’t really know how it works. There is much mystery surrounding faith and life and Jesus and God and our own lives and the purpose and meaning of life. There is always more.

There is a song that was sung in worship on a couple of occasions. I close with a link to the song “More” by Tyrone Wells. I hope it inspires you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98YyCqPVYHE

Holy Adventure - Day 38

Grief and loss are a significant part of the human experience. When we are young, we lose a grandparent or beloved pet. We move and have to say good bye to people we’ve come to know. When we experienced those kind of losses, how we handled it was certainly influenced by those around us, particularly our parents. Did they allow us to feel the pain of the loss, or did they tell us to pick our chin up? Did they listen to our questions or did they say “it must have been God’s plan” and cut off conversation?

The older we get, the more loss and grief we face in our lives. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and we try to block out the uncomfortable feelings. Sometimes we allow ourselves to feel the pain and loss. Sometimes we try to figure out why the loss? Who is to blame? How could it have been prevented? Sometimes we shut ourselves off from others so we don’t have to feel the pain of more loss.

Grief is a process, and it is ongoing. When we grieve, we remember the person or the place or situation and what it meant to us. We remember the gifts we received from the person or situation. But there can also be hard memories. Few relationships or life circumstances are all joy and delight. Usually there are difficult times and challenges, and that can be even harder to allow ourselves to remember and feel. Maybe it seems as though we should only remember the good. But life is full of ups and downs and it is okay to remember the whole range and to thank God for the challenging times as well as the joys.

Epperly quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Only a suffering God can save.” (p.188). Those words do provide comfort. They assert that not only are we surrounded by a whole race of people who suffer, grieve and experience loss (the human race), but we live in the presence of a God who knows our suffering and suffers with us. As we get closer to Good Friday, the day Jesus died on the cross, we realize that surely God suffered as Jesus suffered. Surely God is not removed from our weakness and pain, but transforms it into new life and promise.

Holy Adventure - Day 37

Have you ever had a “near death” experience? When I was in my early 20s I had a couple of them. Both involved car accidents when I thought I had no chance of surviving, but somehow, I did. I was not panicked in those moments, I was completely at peace. It was surprising, really, to be that young and feel at peace with the thought of dying. But that was my experience. Since that time, I think I have taken a different view of my own death. I don’t seem to fear it. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not want to die anytime soon. And I feel responsible to do my part to life and long and healthy of a life as I can.

My “fear” around the idea of death and dying comes more around those I love. I probably do have some fears related to Tim dying or my children dying or even my siblings dying. I want those I love to have long and good lives and I wouldn’t want anything to cut that short. That’s probably a very obvious thing to say. I suspect all of us feel that way, even though we know Paul’s words to be true: “Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39)

As we go through this week and contemplate the death and dying of Jesus, those words take on a deeper and fuller meaning. As we move toward the cross this week, we know that God was there and is there even when we falter and fail as the disciples did. We know that love is stronger than any earthly thing, even stronger than death itself.

Holy Adventure - Day 35

I found today’s reading especially inspiring. Most of us probably know or are related to someone with Alzheimer’s and have had thoughts, questions, observations and many prayers for those who have it as well as their caregivers. I found these words of Epperly’s very comforting, “God’s enduring love and unfailing memory remind us that we can believe on behalf of others, and others can believe on behalf of us. We can heal them by our healing words and touch and by singing hymns of faith, and vice versa.” I have seen that happen time and time again and know it is God at work in and through all of us. It is that assurance that can really give a peace and a joy that is soul-deep.

Today marks the end of week 5 of our Holy Adventure! One week left to go. But this is not any ordinary week. Tomorrow begins Holy Week. And Holy Week is a very important time in the spiritual and faith life of those who follow Jesus. Holy Week begins with recalling how Jesus entered Jerusalem on a young animal to the shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” It ends with his own beloved betraying him, denying him, the shouts of “Crucify him!”, death on a cross and burial in a tomb. Holy Week begins in hope and celebration and ends in darkness, death, and despair.

I would encourage each of you not to take the short-cut to Easter. Rather, allow yourself to go through the struggle and pain and darkness with Jesus so that the power and glory of Easter may be all the more amazing. Read, reflect, journal, do the spiritual exercises. Come to worship tomorrow for Palm Sunday, and again on Maundy Thursday (at First United Methodist Church, 7pm). Join the Good Friday procession at noon (starting at Bandshell park) as we, like Jesus carry the cross and hear the story of Jesus death. Sign up to be part of the Easter Prayer Vigil that begins at 1pm Friday and goes until 6am Sunday. Live fully in this Holy Adventure leading to Easter!

Holy Adventure - Day 34

The Serenity Prayer is the common name for an originally untitled prayer by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. The prayer has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs.

The best-known form is:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

This prayer reminds us that we cannot control everything, and that striving for control can be destructive. We want to be strong and to be independent and to have the right answers. But the truth is, we are human, which means for as wonderful and gifted and wise as we are, we are also weak and vulnerable and, at times, lacking in knowledge or perspective.

It makes sense that people struggling with addictions would find this prayer so helpful. In acknowledging our weakness, we can actually gain in strength and wisdom and peace. In acknowledging our weakness, we can be aware that we have need of God and others to make us whole and holy.

Are there people in your life who help you grow in faith and wisdom? Think about how they treated you and others. Were they full of themselves? Were they prideful? Or were they humble and loving? What can we learn from these people? How can our weakness help us live more abundantly?

Holy Adventure - Day 33

Day 33

The story Epperly tells from Howard Thurman’s childhood is a great illustration of a very basic principle. When we get in unfamiliar situations or territory, so often the “reptile” or lower instinct level of our brain takes over – the fight or flight mode – and we end up anxious and behaving in ways that do not actually help the situation, and often make it worse.

Thurman’s grandmother was a wise woman. It is advise that would serve all of us well. “If you don’t know what to do, just stop a while and look around.” Last summer David Digby and I did a summer of sermons on Survival (body, mind and spirit). That was one of the survival tactics. So often when we are afraid, or when darkness sets in we, like Thurman, want to run. But that can “get you dead.” That can make a situation that “seems” bad really turn bad. Instead, what if we just stopped and looked around? Maybe we’d be able to see our way home through the small flashes of light we see when we are calm and still.

How might this wisdom help you on your Holy Adventure?

(From Wikipedia)

Howard Thurman (1899 – April 10, 1981) was an influential American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader. He was Dean of Theology and the chapels at Howard University and Boston University for more than two decades, wrote 20 books, and in 1944 helped found a multicultural church. Thurman was born in 1899 in Daytona Beach, Florida and grew up in the segregated South. In 1923, Howard Thurman graduated from Morehouse College as valedictorian . He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1925, after completing his study at the Colgate Rochester Theological Seminary now Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. He then pursued further study as a special student of philosophy at Haverford College with Rufus Jones, a noted Quaker philosopher and mystic. Thurman earned his doctorate at Haverford.

Holy Adventure - Day 32

There is a song in our hymnal that begins: “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me. When the world is tossing me, like a ship upon the sea, thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me.” (Chalice Hymnal 629)

How do we remain calm and able to respond in faith instead of fear “when the storms of life are raging”? It is easy to say Christ is with us. And that is true. But how can we be aware of that presence and tap into its power at all times, but especially when we feel threatened?

Throughout Christianity there have been certain practices of the faith that are meant to build our spiritual muscles. It’s not that we “get” something from them each time we do them. Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But just like exercise, we do it anyway because it helps build stamina and muscle and health.

One practice I want to highlight today is Centering Prayer. Often when we think of prayer (and be clear, I want to encourage you to pray often) we think of offering our cares and concerns to God. And so we think or say those concerns and try to think of all of them that we have and invite God’s response and wisdom or healing. But with Centering Prayer, we do just the opposite, which is precisely what builds our spiritual calm in the storm. In Centering Prayer, we quiet our body and our mind and try to not pay attention to our thoughts or concerns or cares. In Centering Prayer, we try to be in that moment, completely with God and to be in tune what God might say to us without our intervention of thoughts and desires and wishes.

If you would ever like to learn more about Centering Prayer, Darla Ewalt leads a Centering Prayer group at 7:00pm on Tuesdays and 5:15pm on Thursdays each week. I know she would welcome your questions and your presence. You can try it for a period of time and just see if it might be a meaningful spiritual practice for you.

Holy Adventure - Day 31

Touch can be a very powerful thing done in a loving and healthy way. Whether that be shaking hands, a hand on a shoulder or a full blown hug, we humans need to be touched in order to truly “feel” whole.

Growing up, I remember hearing the Gaither song, He Touched Me. The chorus goes like this:

He touched me, oh he touched me
And oh the joy that floods my soul
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole

Recently I was reading the reflection of a woman whose father was in hospice. One day she went to visit him and was greeted at the door by a nurse who said he had taken a turn for the worse and that it was probably not going to be long before he passed. When she got in the room her father did, indeed appear to be practically lifeless. But he opened his eyes and looked at her and smiled. She took his hand and could barely feel any sign of movement. As she sat there, she looked around the room and she thought about her father’s life and how much he had loved her. And she wanted to do something for him in what might be these last hours. So she went and got a basin of warm water and a cloth and began to carefully bathe him and put lotion on his tired and worn body. And as she did that her father, little by little began to respond to that healing touch. He opened his eyes once again and asked his daughter to sing to him. So she held him in her arms and sang “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” and “Amazing Grace” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”. He looked at his daughter, told her that he loved her and that he was ready to go, and slipped into a deep sleep. A few hours later he had passed. And this daughter grieved, she was amazed at the power of touch and love to free her father to move on and to heal her heartache and give her peace.

How has touch healed you?

Holy Adventure - Day 30

As the Psalmist proclaims, “you …formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works that I know very well.” (Ps.139)

The body is such a work of art; such an amazing creation that it becomes easy to take it for granted until it stops working like it should. I discovered that late last summer when I irritated a disk in my back and spent several days unable to sit down or turn over in bed without piercing pain, and then spent about 6 weeks in physical therapy as my back began to heal itself and life became more possible. If anyone ever asks me about the Physical Therapists at Mary Greeley, I’ll gladly sing their praises! What a difference that made.

Christianity has not always done a good job of honoring the bodies God has gifted us with. Throughout history, too often the body has been seen as unclean or as the “lesser” part of ourselves. There are people who deny their bodies for the sake of their spiritual life. While there may be healthy expressions of bodily denial such as the practice of fasting or giving up certain things for Lent, the body is not some crude, inferior thing that is somehow not really of God. They are containers for the very Spirit of God!

On the other hand, in our culture, the body – at least the thin, young ones – can be objects of too much focus. With God’s vision we can celebrate the bodies we have and try to treat them well and honor them as a gift with a sense of grace and wonder, but without focusing too much on looks and weight. “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Holy Adventure - Day 28

Today marks the completion of 4 weeks on this Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living. We have just two weeks left to go before Easter. So, I guess that means we are 2/3 the way through. How are you finding the daily readings and prayers and exercises? Are they opening your mind and your imagination? Are they inspiring your thoughts and wonderings about your life and how you might grow in faith and love and let that show more and more in your daily living? Have you made any new commitments or done any experiments?

With just two weeks until Easter, are there things you’d like to do yet during Lent? Now would be a good time to go back and look at your journal writings, or, if you have not been keeping a journal, now would be a great time to begin. Sometimes as we write down our thoughts they become more real and either seem to be very important, or maybe seem like what we felt was a “big deal” maybe isn’t after all.

This week we have been thinking about how all of creation rises in praise to God. Recently my family and I went to the Grand Canyon. That is a place that no matter how many times I go there, it still leaves me speechless in its beauty and wonder. It has such an ancient feel to it and the spirit of the place seems to call if you listen. As I look out on the great expanse and the beauty, I song and a prayer naturally wells up within me and I can easily hear the words of the Psalmist, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!” (Ps.150:2)

Holy Adventure - Day 26

Today’s meditation helps us think about our connection to the earth and all its creatures. It inspires us to think about how we relate to all that God created. At the Church Board Meeting in February, the Board gave its okay to go ahead and form a “Green Team” to take a look at First Christian Church’s use of resources. Are there areas we could do better?

For years, Bob Fitz and others have been changing out light fixtures and bulbs to be more energy efficient. Not too long ago, insulation was added to the attic and we purchased a more efficient boiler system. In the office, we have been trying to cut down on the amount of paper we use. We have asked that people think about different modes of communication that involves fewer resources. Yesterday, Vicki sent out the first email news update (not The Call newsletter). With electronic communication, we do not use paper or ink or a copy machine. We have been purchasing and using more environmentally friendly cleaning products as well. No doubt, the Green Team will come up with other ideas to be good stewards of the resources we have.

One other thing we have tried to do is to purchase organic, fair trade coffee and tea for use at church. We are part of the Disciples’ Coffee Project and buy our supplies from Equal Exchange. The farmers who grow the coffee we drink use sustainable farming practices, grow the crops organically, and receive a fair wage for their work.

Do you have ideas for ways we can help to connect and heal our relationship with our environment? Share them!

Holy Adventure - Day 25

Yesterday I was in a gathering of clergy facilitated by a man from the Center for Renewal at Grand View University. His topic was the role of ministers in equipping the people of their congregation for ministry. He brought several books on the topic. The one I was given to “summarize” was called “Faith as a Way of Life” or something like that. In the book, the author said that one barrier to people seeing their lives as a ministry is the compartmentalization that occurs in daily life. You have work and the set of ethics and values expressed there. You have your role as a “consumer” in our economy that has certain expectations and values. You have the sports arena, with its own set of values. There is the school system, and on and on. There are all these separate arenas that we engage each day. And it can seem as though church and spirituality is just one among many.

The author of this book does not think it is a problem to have many different arenas of life. But he believes that our faith and spirituality really needs to be present in each arena rather than being separate. Our reading this morning is suggesting just that - that our sense of God’s presence and guidance and vision is all around us and unites us with all things and in all aspects of life.

What does life look like and feel like when we are united internally and externally through our sense of God in and through it all?

Holy Adventure - Day 24

“…every moment is a vocational moment in which we may choose to follow or turn away from God’s vision for our lives in this place and time. Every moment’s encounter is a gift from God and an opportunity to make a difference to God and the world.” (p.130)

This quote from our reading this morning reminds me of words in a song I like: “Everything that we have, everything that we are, every moment is a blessing from above. It’s endless love that we breathe; it’s endless love that we receive. What has freely come, we now let freely go.”

Each moment is a gift from God, and today’s reading reminds us that we, like the Priest and the Levite and the Samaritan, decide what we shall do with the moments of our lives. Sometimes we are probably more like the ones who passed by the man hurt and left for dead. We are busy, or afraid, or find some very good reason why we cannot respond to the need. But then there are those times when we are like the Samaritan and we see the need and we sense God’s presence and we respond with that love that we have so freely received.

What are the moments in your life when you were the Good Samaritan?

Holy Adventure - Day 23

Okay, so we are over halfway through the 41 days. We are on our way to coming to Easter in a way we have not before. How’s it going? Have you had new insights? Has your imagination been activated in some new ways? I’d love to hear your stories!

I heard a story yesterday. A story of responding to the reflections and suggestions of the Holy Adventure readings. One of our fellow adventurers, after reading yesterday’s “Living Adventurously” section decided to respond by writing a check out to the Humane Society and putting it in the offering plate at church (in one of those little brown envelopes you find in the pews). In this way, this person decided to do something to “ease the pain” of some of God’s creatures, thus participating with God in healing activity.

Have you had the inclination to do something in response to what you are reading or imagining or praying? Why not do it? I’d love to hear your stories.

Speaking of stories – I am looking for stories of times when we humans, out of our sense of calling to be faithful, have participated in other healing adventures. It can be a story of something you’ve done or something someone else did. Next Sunday, we will feature some of these stories. Let me know!

Holy Adventure - Day 21

Clergy “self-care” is a big topic of conversation within my professional circles these days. Research suggests that clergy are among the least healthy populations in this country. We have a much higher rate of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and depression. Recently I heard someone trying to make a connection about how it is important to take care of the basics in order to be strong to help others. The person said it is like in an airplane when we are instructed to first put on your own oxygen mask and then help your children and others around you. That way you won’t pass out trying to help others.

Jesus spoke of loving your neighbor as yourself. In order to do that, you do need to love yourself. For some, it is hard to love yourself. Maybe that feels too “self-centered” or selfish. And there are certainly ways we can be self-centered or selfish. But to love oneself means to accept your life as a gift from God and to be a good “steward” of that gift. In order to live our life in service of that which is greater than you – God – each of us need to do those things which enhance the life force within us. We need the basics, like healthy food, a good amount of rest, meaningful work, positive relationships, etc. We also need to take time to nourish our spirit through prayer, reflection, writing, creating, reading, and sharing ourselves. Love God. Love neighbor. Love self.

Holy Adventure - Day 20

A few weeks ago the theme of the day was Practicing Our Faith – Forgiveness. During that worship service I asked people to write down the burdens they were carrying… what do you need to let go of/forgive? I received those anonymous offerings and prayed over them the following day.

On those pieces of paper that were offered up to God were the need to forgive family, friends, oneself, neighbors, co-workers and others for a whole variety of things done that shouldn’t have been as well as things not done that should have been. As I read these little pieces of paper I was struck by the weight of what was on them. We humans carry around a lot of pain and grief as we struggle with the hurts and disappointments in life. It is truly a gift from God that we have the opportunity to acknowledge our pain and brokenness and yet not be bound by it.

Forgiveness takes prayer and focus and time. It takes a desire to live life abundantly rather than to be stuck. Are you in need of forgiveness? Do you need to forgive? Lent is a great time to look deep into your spirit and see if you need to be released from the weight of things past so that you can be free to live into a more joyous day.